By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — Exciting things are on the horizon for the 2025-2026 academic school year at Richards School, with the announcement of a $25,000 grant by the Children’s Literacy Foundation that will not only benefit children, but also the entire Newport community.
The program is called the Year of the Book grant and will provide Richards School with in-person visits from authors and illustrators, as well as new books for the school and public libraries, and new books for students to choose and keep. The grant also includes classroom enrichment mini-grants and other literacy resources.
Newport School District Director of Curriculum Brynn Kane explained that she applied at the beginning of this year, answering a series of questions about how the funds would help the school and the town as a whole. She was notified just a few weeks ago that Richards School is one of 14 schools between New Hampshire and Vermont to receive the funds.
Richards School will also receive a follow-up “Momentum Grant” for 2026-2027 to support more books, events and activities to continue the excitement about the grant.
“Over the course of the year the elementary kids, K to 5, will be able to have eight free books each,” Kane said. “There will also be about $1,000 in books for the school library, and the town library, the Richards Free Library, will also get books out of this. It is encouraging collaboration throughout the whole community to increase literacy for our students.”
Kane said this is really trying to get the community involved, and Newport is lucky to have a wonderful library in town that is committed to the literacy of their youth and beyond. She said the idea is to also have workshops and events that will involve the students’ families and the community as a whole.
“On top of all the funding that comes with it, these author visits will be great,” Kane said. “Authors will come and talk to the kids, sign stuff, and get the kids really excited about reading and writing.”
Kane was a teacher in Claremont at a school that received this grant in the past, and said she saw first-hand how this program is beneficial. Richards School was a recipient before her time, but it has been years since they have had these funds come their way.
“It’s really exciting for everyone,” Kane said. “For the kids to get free books, meet the illustrators and authors … the kids really just love it.”
The funds are for next school year, and the district is in the planning stages. They will receive a list of authors and illustrators to choose from who work with CLiF, and they will set up the contact together.
CLiF is a nonprofit organization that creates literacy experiences focused on supporting success in life and learning for children in New Hampshire and Vermont. The organization has benefited thousands of students through these author and illustrator visits, book giveaways and other programs each year.
“CLiF is very pleased to support the children, teachers, and families at this deserving school,” stated CLiF Executive Director Laura Rice. “We are so impressed with the deep commitment expressed by each applicant to provide opportunities for literacy growth and excitement in their students. We are honored to partner with them in this important effort.”
According to the CLiF website, each spring the CLiF team selects recipients for the Year of the Book grant. The grant goes to elementary and middle schools serving pre-K through sixth grade, demonstrating a “commitment to literacy and creative ideas for celebrating reading and writing.” The qualifying schools need to have a significant percentage of students below proficiency on reading and writing assessments, and in under-resourced backgrounds.
The program is designed for encouraging reading and writing, while also integrating literacy into the school’s curriculum. It is also for getting the family involved more, while making more books accessible to students.
It was noted that this is not an easy decision, and that this year was especially challenging. This year’s total of 14 schools is the most awarded since the grant’s inception in 2011.
New Hampshire schools aside from Richards School include Berlin Elementary School, Boscawen Elementary School, Edward Fenn Elementary School in Gorham, Mill Brook School in Concord, and Webster Elementary School in Manchester,
In Vermont, schools include Alburgh Community Education Center; Bristol Elementary School; JFK Elementary School in Winooski; Johnson Elementary School; Newbury Elementary School; Oak Grove Elementary School; Poultney Elementary School; and Rockingham Central Elementary School in Bellows Falls.
“We had a notably large pool of Year of the Book applications this year, all from schools expressing compelling needs,” Rice noted in a prepared statement on the CLiF website. “Upon review, we were moved to expand our programming to include two additional schools for the 2025-2026 academic year. We are very grateful for the support of the wonderful donors whose generosity makes this possible.”
