Pasadena ISD’s Genoa and Young elementary schools’ libraries are two of 3,000 libraries nationwide to receive the We the People “Created Equal” Bookshelf.  

Every year, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in collaboration with the American Library Association (ALA) selects libraries from across the nation to receive a We the People Bookshelf, which is a set of classic books for readers from kindergarten through high school.  

“It’s an honor to have been selected to receive such a wonderful collection of books,” said Young’s librarian Silvia Sandoval. “Our school community is very diverse and these books will reach out to all our students and allow us as educators to teach them about the real meaning of ‘Created Equal.’” 

We the People is an initiative to explore significant events and themes and enhance the teaching and understanding of American culture and history through grants to scholars, teachers, libraries and other individuals and institutions. NEH identifies a theme important to the nation’s heritage every year and selects books embodying that theme. This year, the theme is “Created Equal,” which allows students to explore the Revolutionary generation that declared that “all men are created equal.”  

Sandoval said the “Created Equal” theme is relevant to the current issues facing the nation today.  

“This theme comes at a great time since we are about to choose a new president,” she said. “We can expand on how this country has grown and changed and how an African-American and a woman can also strive to be president of the United States. Anyone can fulfill their dreams in this country because we are all ‘created equal.’” 

The bookshelf consists of 17 classic books including The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, Lyddie by Katherine Paterson and more. In addition, the libraries received four of the books in Spanish, a bonus “History in a Box” resource kit created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and supplementary materials for programming, including bookplates, bookmarks and posters.

“The diversity of the books will allow us to present the theme in different formats,” Sandoval said. “There are picture books to use with the lower grades, and biographies and historical fiction books for the upper grades. Students learn differently by having such a diverse list of books for their individual interests, so we are able to reach them all. What more could we ask for?”