Category Archives: CSK Book Donation Grant

CSK Award Announcements, CSK Award Winners, CSK Book Donation Grant

CSK Book Donation Grant Spotlight: NIA Community Services Network

Image credit: Sandra Herrera

Every year the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant is awarded to deserving institutions working with children. Winners receive a collection of sixty to one hundred titles submitted for consideration for the CSK Book Author, Illustrator and Honor Awards. One of the 2019 recipients was NIA Community Services Network, Inc., a not-for-profit community service organization in Brooklyn, New York.  I exchanged emails with Sarah Harlow, Director of Education, and Elaysel German, Literacy Manger, who let me know how things are going.

Keary Bramwell: Can you tell me a little about what you have done with the CSK Book Donation grant?

Sarah Harlow: The Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grant has allowed for the NIA at Public School 627 Brighter Choice Community School to create a lending library for all students and school community members. 

The lending library is housed in the special initiatives office within Bright Choice Community School. This space is designed for students to feel safe and comfortable enough to read independently and browse the book selection at their leisure. We have added comfortable seating (such as bean bag chairs) and artwork that promotes reading to make the space fun and inviting for kids. 

Students can also use the space for other literacy-related activities. This includes creative writing, drawing, and completing puzzles, as well as reflective and self-calming activities such as mediation. Students are welcome to visit during day school hours as well as after school. The lending library space is a welcoming place that encourages literacy exploration and we are so pleased to have it full of books that reflect our students. This is a safe space where students find social emotional support, self-affirmation, and encouragement. 

Image credit: Sandra Herrera

In addition to building our lending library, NIA has begun to integrate American Library Association (ALA) books into our literacy instruction during the after school hours. The after school literacy model is an interactive read aloud followed by a STEAM based project that students lead and complete. Students are always encouraged to revisit the books at our library space. We are so thankful to the CSK Awards Committee for their support of our students!

KB: What advice would you give to organizations applying for the grant?

Elaysel German: Our advice is to partner with the school leadership (stakeholders). We are a community-based organization that works closely with schools, and we recognize that the people in schools every day have the best insight into our students’ needs and wants. 

We worked as a team on submitting the proposal to ALA. The support and information we received from the day school leadership was invaluable. We also recommend that those seeking to apply really listen to the students and families they serve, to see how this grant will benefit them specifically. Get creative and think big about the possibilities that come from this opportunity.

KB: What sort of impact has the grant made on your organization?

EG: At NIA, we have always valued the impact books have on a person’s self-perception and world perspective. This grant has motivated us to be more intentional about what types of books we are recommending to our 40+ school sites. This meant that we are deep-diving into recommended book lists through research and book talks with educators. 

We believe our intentionality about curating book lists that offer windows, mirrors, bridges and sliding glass doors to our students, will have a deep and lasting impact on their development. As an organization, we are beginning to fuse the link between social emotional learning and literacy. Stories connect us, help us process, strengthen our empathy and compassion, build our own self-confidence and give us greater insight. Access to rich, diverse texts that are reflective of a broad range of experiences are crucial in helping students feel connected to books and to the human experience.  

KB: What sort of impact has the grant made on your students?

EG: Our students at Brighter Choice are deepening their love of literacy. We have been able to create a welcoming, safe and shared after school library space that gets students excited about reading. In addition, because the after school library is open until 6 p.m., students have access to books at all hours of the extended school day. They are seeing themselves in fantastical, realistic and new ways through these stories. They are also seeing new characters and stories from different worlds that were not previously available. 

Image credit: Sandra Herrera

KB: Do your students have any favorite titles?

EG: So far, Black Panther: Young Prince by Ronald L. Smith is our most requested title.

Other popular titles include:  

  • Mirror, Mirror by Barbara J. Freeman 
  • Leah is Seen by Claudette Esmerelda 
  • Puddinhead’s Sister, Zirah by Mariyln Foote
  • Benny Becomes an Architect by David C. Hughes 
  • Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School by Janet Halfmann 

SH: We held a special book party where students got to look at all the new books, read together, and celebrate this amazing opportunity. The students’ excitement was so amazing to see!

EG: We also discovered an amazing connection because we found out that one of the children is related to the illustrator of Let the Children March. During the book party, he proudly came up and told us that his uncle was the illustrator.

Image credit: Sandra Herrera

The application portal for the 2020 Coretta Scott King Book Award Donation Grant is now open. The deadline to apply is Friday, January 31, 2020. Visit this link to learn more. 

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Keary Bramwell is a member of the CSK Technology Committee and children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. 




CSK Award Announcements, CSK Award Winners, CSK Book Donation Grant

Meet the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant Recipients

Students in PS 627 and NIA Community Services Network’s after-school program explore their new books. Photo credit: Elaysel German

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards engage communities in multiple opportunities to increase the love of literacy in our youth, including the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant. Every year, the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association receives approximately 60-100 books for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards jury to review, including a full set of that year’s Coretta Scott King Award winning and honor book titles. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant brings these books into the lives of children and their communities. When an organization is selected as a grant winner, it is sent the books EMIERT collected and these books are used to support innovative projects that foster community connections, build reading opportunities, and increase children’s access to quality materials.

The 2019 recipients of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grants have been announced! Please read below to learn more about the ways this year’s grant recipients are connecting communities through innovative literacy- and youth-centered projects.  

Kane County Juvenile Justice Center: Saint Charles, IL
The Kane County Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) has a library run by volunteers who believe reading adds “immeasurable value to young lives.” Library materials are open and available to all people living in the Center for checkout, and the library works to support patrons as they develop a passion for reading. The books received from the grant will be featured in a special collection area celebrating the Coretta Scott King Book Awards.

Main Street Academy: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Main Street Academy (MSA) is an alternative school serving young people in grades 6-12, with a newly renovated media center that is open daily for the community. The books acquired from the grant will support the media center’s print collection, and staff will continue to nurture a culture of reading and learning through face-out displays, book talks, book clubs, and by promoting community-wide enrichment programs that connect learners inside and outside the school’s walls.

NIA Community Services Network: Brooklyn, NY
NIA Community Services Network, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “building strong children, strong families, and strong communities.” Through a collaboration with PS 627 Brighter Choice Community School, the books acquired from the grant will be used to support an after-school program that supports students as they develop a love of reading through culturally relevant literature activities. The books will also be available to students throughout the school day.To learn more about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant and how to apply for a grant in 2020, visit http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/cskbookawards/bookgrant. To learn more about the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, visit http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/cskbookawards/csk50.

Elisa Gall & Marguerite Penick-Parks are Chair and member of the CSK Book Awards Donation Grant Committee, respectively.

CSK Book Donation Grant

2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant: Apply Today!

Photo credit: CCAC North Library

In 2019, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards will mark its 50th anniversary of celebrating “outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience.”

Every year, the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association receives approximately 60-100 book titles for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards jury to review, including a full set of that year’s Coretta Scott King Award-winning and honor book titles. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant brings these books into the lives of children and their communities. When an organization is selected to receive the grant, it is sent the books that EMIERT collected; those books are used to support innovative projects that foster community connections and children’s access to quality materials and reading opportunities.

Any agency or institution serving children who make these materials available to children is encouraged to apply for the grant. Last year, grant recipients included Art Aids Art in Khayelitsha, South Africa, the Uni Project in New York, NY, and a collaboration between the Athens Housing Authority, the University of Georgia College of Education, and Parkview Community in Athens, GA. You can read more about how these organizations are using the books they received in 2018 here.

Applications for the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant will be accepted until January 31, 2019. Applications are accepted from any location but note that grant recipients must pay for shipping and handling charges. Click here to apply and learn more about the criteria, guidelines, and past winners.

Elisa Gall & Regina Carter are Chair and member of the CSK Book Awards Donation Grant Committee, respectively.

CSK Book Donation Grant

Meet the 2018 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant Recipients

Pop-Up Learning Center
Uni Project, NYC

Founded to honor Coretta Scott King’s humanitarian work, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards has for nearly 50 years drawn attention to “outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience.” Each year the awards jury receives hundreds of books and over 100 unique titles for consideration for this prestigious prize. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant Committee reviews grant applications and ensures submissions will directly benefit young people. Selected organizations receive books, including a complete set of the winning titles, once the CSK Book Awards Jury deliberations have concluded.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant Committee is delighted to showcase three grant recipients for 2018:

Art Aids Art (Khayelitsha, South Africa)

Art Aids Art is a US nonprofit that established the eKhaya eKasi Art and Education Center ten years ago in Khayelitsha, South Africa. They opened a Multicultural Children’s Library in the township with help from a previous Coretta Scott King Awards Donation Grant. Materials in the library are translated by staff into the local language, isiXhosa, and are used to support community engagement and literacy and cultural instruction for children and adults. The Center offers after-school care, life skills instruction, reproductive health programs, homework support, and visual and performing arts classes. The books received from the 2018 grant will support continued instruction, independent reading, and the organization’s community-wide celebration of its 10th anniversary.

Athens Housing Authority, University of Georgia College of Education & Parkview Community (Athens, GA)

The Athens Housing Authority, University of Georgia College of Education, and Parkview Community in Athens, GA collaborated to add the books they received from the grant to a community library for Parkview residents. The new books will support workshops and tutoring related to the arts, storytelling, dramatic play, and community activism. The library will focus on individual, family, and community literacy development while also bringing together residents and leveraging historical memory and knowledge from community members.

Uni Project (New York, NY)

Traveling Learning Center
Uni Project, NYC

For the past seven years, the Uni Project in New York, NY, has built pop-up learning centers in “book deserts” in New York. Loaded with books, materials on STEAM subjects, and more, these custom outdoor learning centers are very attractive to children. Joined by a cart featuring new titles received from this year’s grant, offerings such as author readings, reviews written by members of the public, book discussions, and other participatory schemes will enable the books to reach a broad audience as they (and the ideas they inspire) will travel throughout New York City neighborhoods.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Community of the American Library Association’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). In 2019, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. Applications for the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Award Donation Grant will be available in the fall of 2018. Please review the criteria, consider applying in the fall of 2018, and encourage other eligible organizations to apply!

Elisa Gall is the Youth Collection Development Librarian at Deerfield (Illinois) Public Library and Chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant Committee.

A former school librarian, Laura Simeon is the Young Adult Editor at Kirkus Reviews. She is a member of the CSK Book Awards Donation Grant Committee.

CSK Book Donation Grant

Call for Applications: Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant

A reader explores past Coretta Scott King Award-winning books
A reader explores past Coretta Scott King Award-winning books. Credit: BJ Neary, Creative Commons.

Since 1970, the Coretta Scott King Book Award has recognized “outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.” In addition to the winning titles, dozens of worthy books are submitted to the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association for consideration each year.

The CSK Book Awards Donation Grant helps ensure that these valuable materials are distributed to areas of greatest need by offering complimentary copies to organizations, especially underfunded ones, that provide educational services to children and are looking to expand their book collections.

Last year, books were awarded to three organizations: the W.R. Saffold Community Resource Center in Britton’s Neck, S.C., the Mayaguez Children’s Library in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and the Lawrence Memorial Library in Windsor, N.C. The W.R. Saffold Community Resource Center provides after-school homework help, summer programs, and community functions for all ages, and books are readily available for visitors. The Mayaguez Children’s Library in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, focuses on meeting the needs of children aged 2-18 and adults, with many of its efforts dedicated to promoting recreational reading among all members of the community. The Lawrence Memorial Library, part of the Albemarle Regional Library System in Windsor, N.C., provides children with quality books that reflect the community’s demographics and gives a bright spot in the lives of people who sustained losses during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

The Book Grant Donation Committee accepts applications online through January 31, 2018, through the following link.

A complete list of past winners, as well as criteria and guidelines, can be found on the grant website. We will consider applications from any location, but the applicant must pay shipping and handling charges.

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Post by Laura Simeon

Laura Simeon is a school librarian and member of the CSK Book Grant Committee living in the Seattle area.