We serve: Blackstone Elementary School

The Blackstone Elementary School Library Project

The Blackstone Elementary School is located in Boston's South End, across the street from our partner St. Stephens.  A dedicated group of Epiphany volunteers has been working to reopen the school's long-defunct library since September 11, 2010, joined by graduate students from the Simmons Library School and others coordinated by St. Stephens.  The first year was spent renovating the space, soliciting donations of books and funds, and labeling and organizing the books.  The response was tremendous, and we opened the library on a trial basis to delighted 4th and 5th grade students from April-June 2011.  We quickly learned that to serve the entire school of over 600 students the library needed to be automated.  This year we are doing just that.  We have approximately 6,000 books to enter into our new online circulation system by our self-imposed deadline of March 2, 2012.  Volunteers are needed to help enter data into the online catalog, to cover book jackets, and to read to Kindergartners.  If you'd like to help out, click here to sign up online or contact Eileen Marks.

Meanwhile, in September 2011 the Blackstone School adopted the Open Circle curriculum, a social and emotional learning program developed at Wellesley College for grades K-5 that fosters safe, caring and respectful learning communities.  We are helping assemble the library of books that supports the curriculum.  Thanks to a grant from the Outreach Memorial Fund, in Jan 2012 we were able to purchase 125 much needed hardcover books for the open circle curriculum.