October 24, 2005
Dear Friends of Pine Ridge,
I want to express my sincere gratitude for the books that have been pouring into the Our Lady of Lourdes library. Before coming to Our Lady of Lourdes I did not know what sort of budget to expect for the library or what sort of resources I would have. As it turns out, it was the Middle School that was poorly supplied with quality literature, so this was my first project. Although our budget will allow for the purchase of some new books, it will never cover the cost furnishing a more complete Middle School library. Myself, the students, fellow teachers and administration appreciate your donations towards this goal!
The Middle School students especially cannot wait to dive into their new books! The majority of books we have received so far are still for the Elementary School. New books will now replace old tattered ones, there is a greater selection, and I am proud to say that there are now more Native American titles on the shelves. Book donations have come from all distances, in all sizes and quantities. Thank you especially for the brand new books that were bought. These will be well taken care of.
FAMILY READING NIGHT UPDATE:
Our Family Reading Nights are going well! Our purpose in starting the Family Reading Nights were to instill the idea that children and their parents need to read together EVERY NIGHT in a quiet comfortable environment. Already by the second grade it is clear which students are reading at home and which are not. Our second objective was to get more books in the homes to ensure that reading good literature is a constant possibility in our students’ lives.
It can be difficult to start new traditions here, but students and parents now ask when the next Family Reading Night will be! At our first Family Reading Night, traditional Lakota Stories were told and then parents and children were allowed to read to each other in a relaxed environment. There were refreshments, and families had the opportunity to take home a free book. At our second Family Reading Night we allowed parents to come in and preview and buy books from our Scholastic Book Fair and to read to their children. We hope to continue Family Reading Nights once a month for the entire year.
Your donations of books for Family Reading Nights have been unbelievable and I suspect that we will have enough books to donate to families until well into the spring. We now have a wealth of Native American titles that will be popular with children and their families to take home.
Generosity is one of the four values of the Lakota medicine wheel in addition to Courage, Respect and Wisdom. Your donations have truly demonstrated the spirit and strength of this value. You and the schools you work in are the best friends our school on the Pine Ridge Reservation could have. I look forward to working more with the Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation as we work towards meeting our goals of providing our students with quality literature and information literacy throughout the year!
Mitake Oyase (All Our Relations)
Claire Newman
OLL Librarian and 8th Grade Literature Teacher
If you've received a phone call soliciting donations for "Pine Ridge Reservation" please consider it a scam and do not provide any credit card information.