Scottsville Elementary Receives $7,000 Grant to Support At-Home Libraries

By Albemarle County Public Schools

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. — Scottsville Elementary students picked up a major first down in their education last week, and two-time Super Bowl champion and former NFL defensive end Chris Long helped them move the chains.

The visit from Long served as a kickoff for a new literacy partnership between Scottsville Elementary School, the Chris Long Foundation’s EdZone initiative and First Book, a nonprofit organization that provides books and educational resources to educators. EdZone brings together athletes, coaches and fans to help provide students with access to educational resources and learning materials. Through these partnerships, Long is working to address educational inequity by ensuring students have access to essential learning tools in and out of the classroom.

“Looking back, I wish I had read more and focused on it when I got home more,” Long said. “Our aim is that when kids get home, they have a home library and someone to read with.”

The Chris Long Foundation provided the school with a $7,000 grant to purchase books for students and the library through First Book.

“I think this really drives home for the kids that reading is an integral part of your life, it’s not just something that happens at school,” Kristie Obrecht, the library media specialist at Scottsville, said. “It’s important for them to see that we have all these community partners out there supporting their learning.”

With this grant, the school library was able to purchase several hundred new titles in addition to curating a pack of books by grade level for students to take home.

“By sending these books home, it’s one more level of support,” Obrecht said. “We’re hoping to energize families and the home reading connection.”

Being able to pick which books students will receive was an important aspect as well, according to reading specialist Kim Passerell.

“Developing lifelong readers is all about the book, which is why we wanted to give them books specially for them,” Passerell said. “We wanted to find books that would interest them and develop that connection.”

Beyond the immediate excitement of new books, the collaboration aims to foster a culture where literacy is viewed as an essential life skill rather than just a school requirement.

“I feel like I have an opportunity to ingrain in kids that reading is important, but it’s also cool and functional,” Long said. “I hope these kids take away that reading is important, it’s good for you and it’s really cool to have this knowledge and a big imagination.”