Orr Elementary School’s library needs help. It is a small space with only a couple hundred books in a school where all of its nearly 300 students receive free meals and reading proficiency rates are below the D.C. average, said Principal Michelle Edwards. “We definitely need support,” Edwards said.
On Tuesday, they got some in a big way.
Orr, on Minnesota Avenue Southeast, was one of five D.C. public elementary schools selected for a $200,000 library renovation as part of Target Corp.’s 2011 School Library Makeover Program, a partnership between the retail giant and the Heart of America Foundation. Also selected in the District were Amidon-Bowen, Davis, Garrison and Garfield elementary schools.
Thirty-seven other elementary schools were selected nationwide.
The schools chosen were “in great need,” said Target spokeswoman Jill Hornbacher. But they were also where teachers, principals and school districts had a history of supporting “the love of reading,” she said.
The minimum $200,000-per-school renovation will include light construction, technology updates, new furniture, carpet and shelves, and 2,000 books. Orr Elementary’s library will be transformed from a single room to an entire floor of designated library space with the help of Target designers.
Every student at the 42 selected schools and his or her siblings will receive seven new books. Target will also establish Meals for Minds pantry sites at each school to allow all students and their families to choose food to take home.
All of this is inching Target closer to its goal to give $1 billion to education by 2015.
“Now we’ll have a place for kids to study, to learn, and a community-building place because parents and the larger community will have access to our school library,” Edwards said.
