Benton Middle School has received a $3,500 Youth Literacy Grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to refresh and modernize its library collection for the school’s nearly 800 students. Read more below.
Benton Middle School was selected as one of only 28 organizations in Arkansas to receive funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation during this grant cycle.
The grant proposal was created and submitted during the previous school year by Chrystal Burkes, who served as the librarian at Benton Middle School before taking on her current role as Library Media Specialist at Mountain View Middle School.
“I still care about those kids and want them to love reading! I hope this grant provides them with new books to add to their collection,” Burkes said.
When Burkes joined Benton Middle School in 2024, the library collection carried an average publication year of 1994. An initial weeding effort improved that average to 2010, though many volumes remained nearly 16 years old.
The $3,500 award will directly finance 150 to 200 new, library-bound books to revitalize the facility’s inventory.
The new titles will target specific under-resourced areas, including high-interest/low-readability (Hi-Lo) books, graphic novels, updated nonfiction, and Spanish-language selections.
School officials aim for the additions to boost circulation, support English Language Learners and special education students, and drive broader participation in annual Reading Challenges.
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