Brooke Elementary has been awarded $35,000 from Indigo Love of Reading Foundation to support new books and literacy initiatives at the North Delta school.
The funding was announced at an excitement-filled special assembly in elementary's gym Monday afternoon (June 2) as students, staff and guests including Delta board of education Chair Joe Muego, Vice-Chair Val Windsor and Trustee Erica Beard, as well as district Superintendent Doug Sheppard, gathered to celebrate the school's successful grant application.
Despite recent efforts to improve the school’s library, many of the books remain outdated, according to a Delta School District press release. Indigo Love of Reading Foundation's grant marks a "transformative step forward" in revitalizing the school’s literacy resources.
“Our vision is to increase literacy engagement by expanding reading choices and updating our book collections to reflect the diversity of our students,” principal Jeff McCallum said in a post on the district's website. “We also hope to strengthen community ties with author visits and literacy events involving families.”
The grant application, led by teacher-librarian Claire D’Aoust, outlined a comprehensive literacy plan that includes enhancing classroom and school libraries with diverse, high-interest books to ensure equitable access to quality reading materials; supporting literacy instruction with high-interest book sets, literature circle kits and rotating themed book bins; and expanding classroom libraries with picture books that support theme-based learning across subjects.
“Our current library collection is, on average, about 20 years old, and our classroom libraries vary quite a bit in both size and diversity,” D'Aoust said in an Indigo Love of Reading Foundation press release. “We're working to expand access to a wide range of texts, across different formats and perspectives, so that every student can succeed academically and see themselves reflected in what they read.
"We've also noticed that student engagement with reading tends to decline, especially in the upper grades. That’s why we’re so excited to refresh our shelves with diverse, engaging books that will spark curiosity, inspire learning, and help foster a lifelong love of reading.”
As well, the plan calls for hosting annual family literacy events and author visits to build a culture of reading, and launching a home/school reading program aligned with the science of reading to boost engagement at home.
To track the impact of these initiatives, the school will monitor improvements in literacy assessment scores and early literacy indicators, increases in library book checkouts, and participation in community literacy events and at-home reading activities.
The announcement was attended by the Delta Board of Education’s Chair Joe Muego, Vice Chair Val Windsor, and Trustee Erica Beard, along with the district’s Superintendent of Schools Doug Sheppard.
“We know how important books are to children,” school board Chair Joe Muego said in a post on the district's website. “They can spark a lifelong love of reading that forms the foundation for academic success. We congratulate Brooke Elementary on this well-deserved grant and thank Indigo for their continued investment in youth.”
The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation was established in 2004 to put books in the hands of children at high-needs Canadian elementary schools, which the organization defines as publicly-funded elementaries that receives at least 80 per cent of their funding from the provincial or federal government, have library budgets of less than $30 per year per student, and where the school’s leadership identifies a need for both additional support for their library and books more generally.
On its website, the foundation notes many elementary schools in economically disadvantaged communities have limited library budgets, leaving students with inadequate libraries filled with outdated, tattered and unappealing books.
Schools like Brooke Elementary that are selected for the foundation's Literacy Fund Grant receive the funding over several years. For each program year, the school receives 10 per cent of the grant in the form of cash to spend on special projects that it believes will further promote literacy among its students — things like visits by special guest speakers and other literacy-related events — while the remaining 90 per cent comes as credit toward the purchase of new books at Indigo, Chapters and Coles, which are provided at a 30 per cent discount.
"Providing grants in this way allows the foundation to efficiently track and manage grant spending, ensuring all funds are being utilized for their intended charitable purpose," according to the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation's website. "This also allows schools to avoid incurring any shipping costs, including to rural and remote schools, which helps stretch grant dollars even further. In instances where this approach does not meet the specific needs of a grantee, accommodations can always be made."
Brooke Elementary is one of 30 schools sharing in over $1 million in funding in 2025. Since 2004, the foundation has committed $35 million to more than 3,500 schools across Canada, impacting upwards of one million children, according to the organization's website.
