DAYTON, Ky. -- Angie Boyers' grandfather used to sit in the library at Dayton High School and encourage students to read. Now she, a third generation librarian at the school, will do the same thing thanks to a $5.3 million literacy grant.
"Being in the library, where he was, where I got to come and get a love for reading, and now getting to pass that down to all my students is amazing," she said.
The grant will provide resources for children in seven different Northern Kentucky school districts.
"My hope is that kids continue to fall in love with reading and they go places, meet folks in the great works of literature that are out there," Dayton Independent Schools Superintendent Jay Brewer said.
Deneen Zimmerman, the director of academic services at Bellevue Independent Schools, said the grant will give their students "opportunities they don't usually get, because state funding doesn't allow for the extras."
Erlanger, Silver Grove, Southgate, Bracken County and Williamstown schools are all part of the collaborative grant.
The grant will allow students to take books home and start their own personal libraries, too.
"Preschool through kindergarten, they get 10 books per school year for three years, and first grade through 12th grade, they get four books per year over the three years of the grant," Brewer said.
Each school will also be able to employ one person to lead the way with literacy and STEM activities.
"It's always nice to have a go-to person that knows technology, can put efforts into learning more about technology," Zimmerman said.
School libraries like the one Boyers loves so much will also benefit. Each one is receiving nearly $30,000 to add to their book collections and STEM activities.
"Each of the libraries will be able to bring in 700 new books each year, which is a third of the books that I have in the library right now," Boyers said.
