2008 Grant Proposal Details

Book Purchase   Meadowlark & Buena Vista

Total: $2000

Description:  Meadowlark and Buena Vista elementary schools would like to purchase books to support our continued participation in the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB). We propose to purchase seven sets of the sixteen books on the 3-5 Division Booklist for the 2009-2010 school year and seven sets for the 2010-2011 school year. The Oregon Battle of the Books is a statewide reading motivation and comprehension program. Students, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints. The goals of the program are to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, and promote academic excellence. On a statewide level, lists of books are chosen and questions are written and prepared by members of the Oregon Association of School Libraries. Students read the books, discuss them, quiz each other on the contents, and then compete in teams of four students to correctly answer questions based on the books in a "quiz show" format. Questions may begin with the words "In which book..." so that the answer will be a title and author or it may be a content question with the title of the book supplied. Teams may participate at local, district, regional and state levels of competition. New lists of recommended titles for each level are compiled each year by a selection committee. An attempt is made to vary the titles chosen according to genre and difficulty so that readers may encounter a broad range of books.

Why is this important?  Oregon Battle of the Books encourages reading, a fundamental building block of every child’s education. This project builds our schools’ library collection with quality titles. OBOB unites students from different grades and from both schools in our co-housed building. It allows students who cannot purchase books to participate in the Oregon Battle of the Books, which encourages reading, comprehension, teamwork and sportsman-like competition. Our students are excited and are anticipating OBOB again this year. Last year we were the only elementary schools in the Eugene 4J district to participate in OBOB. Forming 26 teams, 112 students from Meadowlark and Buena Vista volunteered to participate. Meadowlark received a one-time only grant from the Library Services and Technology Grant for purchasing OBOB books for the 2007-2008 school year, and Buena Vista received the same grant for the current school year. For all titles in our library, acquired books are a shared resource for students from both schools.

Who will be served?  All 120 Meadowlark and 150 Buena Vista students in grades three through five will have the opportunity to read the books prior to the OBOB competition in February. After the competition, all students will have the chance to check out OBOB books.

How will this be evaluated?  There are several indicators of a successful project. The first measure will be the number of students who participate in OBOB. The second measure will be the circulation of the OBOB books. We will tally circulation before the competition and at the end of the year.

Does this build on existing programs?  Meadowlark Elementary conducts a Reading Race every year. The Reading Race will now be held at a time to complement OBOB. The 2009-2010 school year will be the third year of participation for our schools in the Oregon Battle of the Books. The books for the competition have been purchased for the previous two years with one-time-only grant money. Purchasing multiple copies of these books encourages participation of more students.

Budget:  For one year:Two of the seven copies of each title will be purchased in hardcover. $16 x 32 books = $512 -- Approximately three titles each year are not available in paperback. The five remaining copies of these titles will be purchased in hardcover. -- $16 x 15 books = $240 -- The five remaining copies of titles available in paperback: $ 6 x 65 books = $390 Copies, note cards, poster board: $25 -- This brings the total project budget for one year to $1167 and the total amount needed for the project for two years to a total of $2334. We will obtain the $334 from other sources such as parent contributions and profits from our book fair or other fundraisers.

Proposal #:  72