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| Parents seek money to buy books |
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| Written by Maddy Houk / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 08 December 2007 | |
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“We have great programs, but we don't have the books to keep them going.” — Steve Charbonneau Apricot Valley Elementary principal The old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” is a perfect metaphor for the building that stores reading material at Apricot Valley Elementary School. Everything appears top-notch at the 2½-year-old school — except for the library, which is badly in need of books for its kindergarteners through fifth-graders. “We do have a beautiful facility,” Principal Steve Charbonneau said. “But you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Apricot Valley had 360 students enrolled when it opened its doors in August 2005. The school had more than 600 students the next year and has close to 800 students today. Charbonneau said several factors caused a shortage in the library book budget. When school budgets are prepared for school needs, they are based on the school’s current enrollment, he explained. So, at the end of the first year, the budget was prepared based on 360 students, even though 600 students showed up the next year, resulting in a money shortfall. The same thing happened again when the budget was prepared in 2007. In addition, Apricot Valley has relatively high state-standardized test scores compared to other schools, and it has only a few socioeconomically disadvantaged students, so the school receives less state funds than other schools. As a result, library shelves are bare. “We have great programs, but we don’t have the books to keep them going,” Charbonneau said. “I feel awful about that.” Locals step forward to help The library needs $10,000, and Charbonneau’s goal is to raise half of that money. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization has pledged to match what the school raises. Lon Mac Dowell, president of the PTO, said the group needs all the help it can get to raise funds. “I’d been to the library a few times, but never paid much attention to how empty it really was,” Mac Dowell said. “Our school librarian, Mrs. (Melissa) Trefault, explained the situation, that a good library has 10 books for every one student — our library has one book for every five students.” This week, local residents bought books for their children, for the teachers’ classroom use and for the school library at a school book fair. Another book fair will be at the school in March. Charbonneau said there was a lot of momentum at the beginning of the school year with money coming in from community groups, businesses and individuals. About $1,700 has been raised so far. Richard Ricks, president of Apricot Valley School Site Council and a regular classroom volunteer, has three students at the school and another one coming up. He said he feels the school has grown, and the library needs to grow with the school. “We have a beautiful school, great students, great teachers and parents,” Ricks said. “It takes all of us to get the proper amount of books to enhance reading skills.” Apricot Valley students are underserved, and the community must work together to change that, he said. “This is a call to our community — we want clubs, businesses, private parties. … Our children are the whole reason that we’re here. If our children fail, we’ve failed as parents, and we’re not going to have that.” To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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