Support Eckstein’s Library –Donate to the Eckstein Annual Campaign!

Why is Eckstein‘s school library important to all students? Good libraries help kids succeed in school! Just ask our job-sharing librarians, Rebecca Wynkoop and Julie Pierce, who serve our 1200 plus students at Eckstein. They cite studies showing how students benefit from quality library services: Schools with well-staffed, well-stocked and well-funded library programs have higher academic achievement scores than schools that do not, according to a recent study by Scholastic Library Publishing. Another study by Colorado‘s Library Research Service concluded that state achievement test scores averaged 18 percent higher in middle schools with well-developed library programs.

How important is Eckstein Annual Campaign financial support to the school‘s library? Annual Campaign funding is critical to Eckstein‘s library program, because all library funding this year will come from the Eckstein Annual Campaign – no district money is budgeted for the library, other than funding one salaried librarian position. That means books, supplies and a part-time library assistant are all funded by the Annual Campaign, not the district. Your Annual Campaign contribution is crucial to provide basic support to our library!

How, specifically, will your contribution to the Annual Campagin be used in the library?
Your contribution to the Annual Campaign will support the library in many important ways, including the following:

• Annual Campaign funding will help to update the non-fiction and reference materials that students use for research across the school‘s curriculum.
• Annual Campaign will fund the purchase of new books to build the library‘s very popular and widely used fiction section. Many of the current books date to the early 1980‘s, well before any of the school’s students were even born!
• Annual Campaign funding will provide a library assistant, enabling the librarian to spend time collaborating with teachers. Collaboration between librarians and teachers is important to our students– the Colorado study mentioned above found that state achievement test scores averaged 18 to 21 percent higher in middle schools when library specialists collaborated with classroom teachers.
• Annual Campaign funding also supports online subscriptions for the library.

The Eckstein library’s mission is to create “a sophisticated 21st century learning environment offering a full range of print and electronic resources to provide equal learning opportunities to all students…..the library is a place of opportunity offering students access to a collection of classic and contemporary print resources, as well as the chance to explore technology that they can integrate into their learning,” says Rebecca. “It‘s important for the library to be a contemporary 21st century learning environment that is real and relevant to all students.”

We need your help to make this happen! By donating to the Annual Campaign, you can ensure support of the library and all the students who use it. If you have not already done so, please consider sending in your donation today (check payable to Alliance for Education—Eckstein) to the Eckstein Annual Campaign, Eckstein Middle School, 3003 N. E. 75th St., Seattle, WA 98115. Or, donate online through the secure Alliance for Education website (https://www314.safesecureweb.com/alliance4ed/) using your Visa or Mastercard. Please indicate that your donation is for the Eckstein Annual Campaign in the An Individual School text box so that your donation will be properly credited to this fundraiser. Your generosity is needed and appreciated!