The Instructional Materials Center collaborated with the Public School Partnership to support the 4th annual Beginner Teacher Summit at the Reich College of Education on Friday, August 1. Over 160 local educators attended the event, including 120 preK–12 beginning teachers. Other attendees included principals, curriculum specialists, and school librarians. The IMC team, in collaboration with the Public School Partnership, hosted a beginner teacher book fair at the summit. The partnership purchased 650 K–8 books from Scholastic, and the IMC donated young adult titles to expand the book fair’s offerings.
Jenny Coffey and Jewel Davis unpacked and sorted the 650 books by pre-k-12 grade spans to display at the fair, and Leigh Barnes created an IMC display, promotional materials, and an IMC slideshow. At the event, Library Personnel engaged with the summit participants and were able to highlight the IMC while also providing free, high-quality books for classrooms.
The initiative was especially meaningful because many early-career teachers have limited classroom resources, particularly when it comes to building a robust and inclusive classroom library. By giving them access to high quality books, we are helping them support student literacy and engagement from the very start of their careers. The fair also offered a great opportunity to raise awareness about IMC resources and strengthen partnerships between our library and local schools.
"The IMC team is doing great work, and we want the University to know how our team is reaching beyond our library doors, " said Jewel Davis.
Jenny Coffey and Jewel Davis at Beginner Teacher Summit with books
