Janice Barnes

Barnes’ innovative teaching idea, “Pop Up Library in Community,” focuses on promoting reading in her school community, a disadvantaged neighborhood, during the summer months. Research has shown a significant decrease in what a child retains over the summer months because they are not exposed to books or other enrichment activities that help sustained what they learned the previous year. This is referred to as the Summer Slide. In order to prevent the Summer Slide, Barnes partnered with two apartment complexes and a community partner to host this program and provide books to each child, as well as storytelling sessions. They will canvas the neighborhood, allowing children to select quality books they enjoy reading during the summer. Barnes hopes that this program will be a model program for other disadvantage communities within this region.