Help Modernize Our Outdated School Library

85% of the students at Charleston High School come from low-income households, and receive free/reduced lunch. Even though the majority of these students do not come from “ideal” backgrounds, the majority of them are determined to go to college, in order to both better themselves, and to become one who changes the perception of what can be achieved with determination, within their community. Most of the students here believe that they are “stuck” here, unless they are recognized for playing football or basketball. There are also those who excel in academics solely with the goal of earning scholarships for college.  It is my goal to be a positive role model to as many of these students as possible, in order to give them as much encouragement and information as possible as pertains to continuing their education AFTER high school. As their school librarian, I feel the need to provide the students at Charleston High School with the tools they need to adequately use books and the internet in order to fulfill their research needs. 

Currently, we have approximately 500 books in the school library. This is due to weeding the collection that has accrued over the span of approximately 50 years, and had an average copyright date of 1971. After weeding, the collection went from 7,500 titles to 500. The state requires that school libraries have approximately 10 books per student. We have about 450 students within 9-12 grades. That means, we should have 4,500 titles on our shelves. We are short 4,000. The library has a budget for books; however, books are very costly. On the current budget, it will take us YEARS to build the collection to what it needs to be.