As part of our school-wide focus on increasing literacy among our students, one of our projects was focused around our English Language Learner (ELL) students and literacy. We began by collecting data to better understand student engagement with our library resources. Our findings revealed that many students were rarely signing out books, largely due to a lack of appealing and age-appropriate materials in the existing catalogue. We have shared some of the student responses.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/AnalysisPage.aspx?AnalyzerToken=UU7lWsdLkyW0fiiZNz0FZE0gTYufXwuP&id=mm_zj9hyJkWPzpJxkJGm7J48N1gHSKtCrniIkX440uJUNDRSRzI1TzVQUkhYRzhDVDRDTzg1NVA2US4u&wdLOR=c6804F379-6079-A440-B808-EC64B68681E4

In response, we launched a collaborative effort involving the ELL department, students, and our librarian to explore ways to boost book sign-outs and foster a love of reading. One key step was the selection and purchase of new, age-appropriate books tailored to the interests and language levels of our ELL learners.

Following the arrival of the new books, students were invited to complete a survey to share their thoughts and perspectives on the updated collection. Additionally, we established a student focus group to provide more in-depth feedback on the new materials. Some of the feedback has been shared in the attachment below.

We are encouraged by the early responses and look forward to continuing this important work in the new school year, with the shared goal of nurturing a vibrant, inclusive reading culture for all students.