During their Winter Title I/SAC meeting, a parent at John H. Webster School mentioned that she would like to have a functioning library in the school because there wasn’t a library in the neighborhood. Principal Sherri Arabia explained that unfortunately there was not room in the school for a library, but perhaps they could work together to figure out another way to provide books to the students.

Pastor Rodney Timmons, a community partner from the Open Door Ministries Church, stood up and asked all of the attendees if they would like to have a library and parent resource center at the community center across the street. All of the parents and staff were extremely excited about the possibility of the new library and started planning.

After several months of collecting thousands of book donations from students in the Temple University Nursing program, as well as working hard to clean and paint the new space, the neighborhood now has a full-functioning community library!

The nursing students have created a check-out system in which the Webster students can borrow books and return them to a designated place in the school office, and a parent volunteer will return the books to the library each week. Pastor Timmons has also received a donation of eight desktop computers and a printer that will be available to the Webster parents. Pastor Timmons is planning to have an adult computer class for any parent or community member that would like to attend.

“We at Webster are extremely proud of this accomplishment,” says Webster’s Family Engagement Liaison Rasheeda Hancock. “This goes to show that school, family, and community collaboration can make a great difference in the lives of the students and communities we serve.”