McVay Elementary joins more than 70 schools across Central Ohio — and the first in Westerville — to receive a donation from the Harper’s Corner Foundation, a local nonprofit aimed at providing more books focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion to school libraries.
“We are very excited to welcome these books into our library and to give our students more books that are representative of their diversity and experiences,” interim Principal Jason Fullen said.
The Harper’s Corner donation aligns with the school’s efforts to bring more diverse texts to students. Several McVay teachers received books for their classroom libraries from the Westerville Education Foundation’s Many Voices: Diverse Library Project last year.
Fullen said the school learned about Harper’s Corner through a parent who helped administrators connect with the nonprofit. The school submitted a request last spring where media specialist Bethany Solich created a wishlist of books provided by Harper’s Corner.
The list features mostly recent books, addressing a variety of topics from women’s empowerment (“You Are Awesome” by Susann Hoffmann) to Black representation (“Black is a Rainbow Color” by Angela Joy and Ekua Holmes).
Due to high demand and interest among area schools for donations, McVay was on the waitlist for seven months before learning its request would be fulfilled. Harper's Corner fulfills orders as soon as they receive funding to do so. They received about 200 books (valued at $3,000) from Harper’s Corner just before winter break last month.
Solich plans to create a special display area with the Harper’s Corner books where any student can check them out.
To learn more about Harper’s Corner and the foundation’s work, visit their website.
Pictured: Bethany Solich, McVay Media Specialist; Jason Fullen, interim Principal and Julia Hanna, President/Founder of Harper's Corner Foundation Inc.