Books are Back!: Phase II

Books are Back!: Phase II
Posted on 10/21/2022

Books are Back: Phase II 

Students gravitate to new books and new stories - especially if they are windows into perspectives and lived experiences of others. Contemporary stories that stimulate positive discussion and empathy in equity, inclusion, resilience, and understanding.

Books are Back: Phase II will bring a variety of new books representing the voices of Indigenous, 2SLGTBQ+, Black and Authors of Colour to primary students in both English and French classes across the Limestone District School Board (LDSB).

“Books are Back” provides books that are Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors; Professor Rubin Sims-Bishop reminds us why this is crucial for children when developing a personal reading life. Grades 1-3 are wonderful times to build excitement about books and ideas. These books hope to do just that! This fall, the Limestone Learning Foundation will fund a total of 277 book sets, either containing 18 new English titles or 9 new French titles, to LDSB’s 50 elementary schools. 

In October 2021, the Limestone Learning Foundation launched Books are Back, providing all Grade 4 to 6 classrooms with book sets of 25 curated titles to further support Indigenous Education, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. These books ranged from graphic novels, small chapter books, to full-length novels with complex plots and sophisticated themes. The LDSB was able to leverage the Books are Back initiative to offer students three virtual author visits featuring two authors from the Books are Back collection.

See the Books are Back! Phase 2 catalogues: English titles and French titles.

BaB sticker outlineThe Limestone Learning Foundation’s Books are Back program builds rich classroom libraries for independent reading. These are not textbooks, but important topical stories featuring high-quality, literacy authors’ works at appropriate reading levels not provided by government funding.