Starting in January 2024, Worcester Dual Language Magnet School’s Parent-Teacher Organization members worked together to raise money to create a bilingual library.
One year later, the school, formally known as the Chandler Magnet/La Familia Elementary School, is opening that library, according to a press release from Dual Language Magnet School parent Aislinn Doyle.
Doyle wrote that the organization raised $16,000 for furniture, books, and a check-out system for the library and that a ribbon cutting for the new space will take place on Feb. 13.
“Our school community is enthusiastic about returning our library space into a working library, but it will be supported entirely by donations,” Doyle wrote. “All 30 classes at our school visit the library weekly and it is staffed Monday-Friday from 8:30-2:30 completely by parent volunteers.”
Doyle previously explained to MassLive that the library’s bilingual structure is centered around the school’s student population.
She said the school is the only elementary school in Worcester that offers classes that teach students who only speak one of Spanish or English to learn how to read, write and respond in the other language.
Prior to this year, the school’s 550 children did not have a library, according to Doyle. There was, however, a Worcester Public Library bookmobile that visited the school once a month for a little less than three hours, she told MassLive.
“That equates to 20 seconds per student, which means most students do not have any consistent library access without a school library,” Dolye wrote.
The new library aims to increase student access to books, increase family and community engagement at the school and support literacy, Doyle wrote in the press release.
“To have a new library gives our students, teachers, and families a bilingual center of inquiry, knowledge and creativity,” Doyle wrote. “It would increase book access for our students and provide diverse media resources. Our goal is for our library to be a welcoming and inclusive space at the heart of our school and continue to be a multi-use space serving many needs.”
