This story has been updated.
Wreaths adorned walls at McCollum High School earlier this month as Terrie Sharp, the librarian for the school of 1,500 students, helped pass out snacks at a table set up for making bookmarks.
The books and the craft table are part of an initiative called “Cowboys Read!” The book club aims to spark an interest in reading for students who might be hesitant to pick up books, with the goal of increasing literacy scores, which have concerned educators in districts across the city in recent years.
According to state accountability data, only 32% of students scored on grade level in 2022 at the C-rated school in the Harlandale Independent School District.
Sharp describes Cowboys Read as a “different type of book club” in which students may participate as much or as little as they want.
Each month, six new titles are placed in mini-libraries throughout the campus — including the cafeteria — where students may grab one and read it.
Then, they can return the book … or not.
“There’s no checkouts. There’s no due dates. If they don’t bring it back, that’s OK, too,” she said. “At the end of the year, we’re able to give the previous year’s books away. And the kids love that.”
The idea was implemented after Sharp noticed that many students, including emergent bilingual students, were not checking out any library books.
“I finally asked them,” she said, hearing from students that they didn’t want to be financially responsible for the books in case something happened to it. “They didn’t want that hanging over their heads.”
The solution was inspired by little free libraries, which are set up in public areas and typically include books for anyone to leave or take, solving the concerns of the students. But, Sharp said, those books are often old and unwanted.
This program only provides brand-new books purchased with federal funds and includes titles of interest to young readers.
Among those at the table decorating a bookmark to look like a present with a bow was Nathaniel Martinez, who was eyeing Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team.
He has been thinking about playing basketball himself, he said.
The club has grown since its inception during the COVID-19 pandemic when school closures and social distancing complicated the rollout.
Without students checking out books, it is hard to gauge how many students are using the stations, but Maria Casias, a student who has helped with the project, said that students will often hang around and discuss the latest titles.
That has helped Casias connect with other students over their shared love of reading.
“Someone who just reads a lot and spends a lot of time in the library, friends are kind of hard to make,” she said. “So this gave me an opportunity to expand my friends and meet new people.”
With changes to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test going into effect last year, Sharp said she hopes to see the libraries and other efforts spur an interest in reading.
On a window by the library, a wall of printed titles shows what teachers throughout the school are reading, another part of that effort.
In addition to the accessibility created by the Cowboys Read program, all the books in the free stations are printed in large text by Thorndike Press, a large print publisher.
“That is specifically helpful for our reluctant readers, and our emergent bilingual students because it’s easy to understand, and it’s easier to process in the brain,” Sharp said.
Carrie Willis, the marketing manager for Thorndike, said that large print text for younger readers is relatively new and rare, with large-print titles historically focused on older readers and those who are visually impaired.
However, recent studies have shown that large texts can help build reading stamina and make reading easier for hesitant readers.
“There’s less words on a page, so when they open the book, it is a little less intimidating,” Willis said. “Less words on the page, also means that readers … will turn the pages faster, which supports their reading stamina.”
The 16-point type in the books also have more spacing between the words, which “gives some breathability to the text, kind of giving [readers] a break, and allowing them to slow down to decode those letters and words,” Willis said.
Casias said she can read faster thanks to the larger text.
Starting next year, there will be large-print titles available in Spanish, as well, something Sharp said she is excited to add to the collection as the Cowboys Read book club continues to grow.
“My real goal here is that I wanted to create a culture of reading on our campus,” she said. “And I think I’ve done that. We have these lunchtimes that we’re talking about books … and starting conversations about what everybody is reading and what you should read next.”
