A project to strengthen connections with students and families during a school year turned upside down by a pandemic will also provide a major influx of books to the library at École Henry Kelsey.

The purchase of hundreds of new books will diversify the library's collection, offer reading options that better reflect the school community and student interests, and provide additional copies of popular titles.

But instead of just placing the books on the shelf, each student at Henry Kelsey — including those whose families chose online learning this school year — will have the opportunity to select a title and dedicate it to the library in their name.

"We have purchased over 350 books that will enhance our collection for lots of reasons such as diversity of families, genders, diversity of ethnicity and religions, and great stories that kids love that we either didn't have enough copies of or that we didn't have copies of at all," said vice principal Laurel Lindgren.

"Each student — and each online student who was connected to us last year — will get to dedicate a book to our collection to connect our community to each other. Students will create a decorated sticker with their name in the book they dedicated to our library. Each child will have their picture taken with their book to share with their family."

The first step is a "book shop" set up in one of the classrooms, where dozens of titles are spread over tables, along the rail of the white boards that line the wall and even inside the wardrobe cubbies. That's where each student will have the chance to select a book they can call their own. Students and families who attended the school during 2019-20 and plan to return to in-person learning this fall after a year of online classes are choosing their titles through a virtual shop.

It's a project that Lindgren and members of the school's library renewal committee hope will create a stronger connection to the library for students and a shared legacy of reading and books among the students who will get to see "their" book and the ones chosen by friends and classmates read for years to come.

"We are featuring these new books by circulating them in the classrooms so that students can take their own dedicated book, and their friends' dedicated book, home to share with their families," she said. "As play dates and connections have been difficult this year, we can share stories of friends by sharing stories at home."

The project was funded by the school community council (SCC) which had money held over following the abrupt end of the previous school year. Strategic shopping and taking advantage of sales turned the $2,000 investment into the 350 titles that run the gamut from beginner readers to young adult fiction.

"Our SCC loved the idea. When we pitched it, it was a no-brainer. The idea of having this very different year became something that we can remember back to because their child's book is still here in six or seven years can be a fond memory," Lindgren said. "When we are going to hear the feedback (from parents) is when their kids start bringing those books home and talking about them."

The project is one milestone in work done by the school's staff during the past several years to reorganize and rethink the role of the library in order to make it a better experience for students and teachers.

 It began with the relocation of teacher resources to another location in the building and continued with a culling of more than 300 out-of-date and poor circulating materials. That created space for books that are more reflective of the interests of students and the entire school community.

Precautions due to the pandemic has meant classes haven't been able to spend dedicated time in the library this school year. But with an influx of books and a buzz among students as they chose and dedicate their book, Lindgren expects the library will be a hub for classroom activities, individual student reading, and other opportunities once Henry Kelsey is able to return to its usual routines.

"This year has taught me that you anticipate something and then something else surprising comes out of it," she said. "I feel there will be a really cool follow-up story for us about what happens that we didn't anticipate."