My name is G Trupp, and I am the librarian at Del Dios Academy of Arts and Sciences in Escondido, CA. In November you generously funded my grant project through the Escondido Education Foundation to diversify the collection of books at my school library. While some of the books were not able to be shipped due to COVID supply shortages, almost all of them have now arrived, and have been incredibly well-received by students in just the couple of months that they’ve been on the shelves. Each book had a commemorative bookplate placed in it (pictured below) to recognize the generosity and impact of the David T. and Dorris E. Staples Foundation.
I have attached some pictures of the new books you helped us purchase as well as some hand-written thank-yous from students. In addition to these written notes, I have seen so many of them excited to read books in genres that they are interested in, and multiple students have told me that this is either the very first or one of the first times they’ve seen a book where the main character looks like them. One student specifically shared with me how much reading books with Latina main characters has helped her work through different challenges in her life, and how nice it is that we have these books in our library because she’s never had books that represented her so well before. Teachers have also been noticing the positive additions to the library, and have been excited to see their students more engaged with reading. We even got a district-wide shoutout from our Superintendent about the work we’ve been able to do thanks to your generosity! These new books are almost always checked out– especially the graphic novels! Your donation has really made an impact on so many students’ lives, so I sincerely want to thank you.