The Coronado community has generously donated over 150 books to the Coronado Unified School District schools as part of InclusioNado’s recent Diversity Book Drive.
InclusioNado referenced the California Department of Education to identify award-winning books on diversity that were not owned by the Coronado school libraries. Wish lists for each CUSD school were posted on Amazon.com and members of the community were invited to purchase books from these lists to donate to the Coronado school of their choice. School librarians at each school site were thrilled to receive the delivery of books and are planning ways to promote the new books to students.
Book donors included Coronado families, teachers, community members, and groups. The Coronado Women’s Book Club generously donated books across all four school locations. Girl Scout Troop 6216 raised funds to donate a selection of diverse books for Coronado High School. Coronado resident and book lover, Gail Bardin, donated a large number of books to all Coronado schools. Newly elected school board member, Whitney Antrim, also contributed to the book drive in line with her campaign promise to build diversity and embrace inclusivity in Coronado schools.
One of the most popular books for the elementary schools was You Can Be a Friend written by husband and wife, Tony and Lauren Dungy. Tony Dungy is well-known as a former NFL coach and the first black head coach to win the Super Bowl. This story about being a good friend was a New York Times bestseller as well as a California Young Reader Award and Christopher award winner.
The Coronado Middle School and Coronado High School libraries now have multiple copies of the National Book Award winner, Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. This non-fiction narrative covers the role children played in the 1965 Alabama protests for African American voting rights. The book includes moving photographs, stories, and quotes from children participating in these historic freedom marches.
Coronado High School also received a copy of the play, The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman. The play visits the town of Laramie, Wyoming which was the site of a brutal hate crime against a young boy in 1998. Although the book addresses a difficult topic, the play has been performed by high schools and colleges around the world to teach students about prejudice and tolerance.
InclusioNado would like to thank everyone that donated and supported the Diversity Book Drive. Although the book drive has concluded, the list of award-winning books will be posted on the InclusioNado website at https://www.inclusionado.org/book-drive/.
InclusioNado has also partnered with the Coronado Public Library to enable Coronado community members to have access to these award-winning books.
Contact InclusioNado at [email protected] with any questions about the Diversity Book Drive or other community initiatives.
