NEWS RELEASES > JANUARY 16, 2025
BY FOLLETT CONTENT
MCHENRY, Ill., Jan. 16, 2025 — More than 160 K-8 students, who reside on a Navajo Indian Reservation in rural Arizona, will have their home libraries enhanced courtesy of a book donation from the Follett Educational Foundation.
Every student from Jeddito Public School, the only school in Cedar Unified School District #25 in the community of Jeddito, Ariz., was allowed to select three books from the easy-to-use Follett Book eFairs online platform. The Foundation partnered with McHenry, Ill.-based Follett Content — a longtime literacy advocate—to curate the books to ensure they were age- and reading-level appropriate.
The total number of books gifted was 486. All the books were recently delivered to the school, located 150 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz., to allow the students to take them home before the winter break.
Dean Slaga, principal at Jeddito Public School, said all the students’ selections were made in class so their teachers could help guide them to books that matched their reading ability and interest.
Slaga said he was indebted to the Foundation as well as Britten Follett, a fifth-generation Follett family member who is President of the Follett Educational Foundation Board of Trustees and serves as CEO of Follett Content Solutions.
“Britten called me directly and said the Foundation wanted to help the Jeddito School students,” Slaga said. “Even though the students will be taking their books home, we view this as an extension of our school’s reading program. We are grateful to Follett for its generosity.”
As part of its expanded philanthropic mission to get books into the hands of students in the Native American community, the Foundation earlier this year funded the donation of 120 backpacks filled with books and a journal for youths attending the “Summer Youth Powwow: Read, Learn, Grow” in Schaumburg, Ill.
Britten Follett said it is the hope of the Foundation that literacy programs of this nature will help make reading a lifelong habit.
“The Follett Educational Foundation has big dreams of building school libraries in tribal schools,” she said, “and an opportunity such as this with Principal Slaga and his students is the just the start of a larger commitment.”
Founded in 1964, the Follett Educational Foundation annually awards scholarships to students of Follett team members and seniors graduating from area high schools. The Foundation has awarded more than $300,000 per year to anywhere from 150 to 200 students.
About Follett Educational Foundation | folletteducationalfoundation.org
Established in 1964, the Follett Educational Foundation has issued more than $5 million in higher education scholarships. Today, its Four Brother Scholarship program, named after Dwight, Garth, Bob and Laddie, the brothers who grew the individual divisions of Follett Corporation, awards college and trade school scholarships to deserving students at Oak Park River Forest High School and Proviso East, both in the Chicagoland area. The Foundation is expanding its philanthropic endeavors to improve literacy outcomes in communities in need, starting with Native American families.
About Follett Content | follettcontent.com
Follett Content Solutions is the largest provider of educational materials and solutions to PreK-12 libraries, classrooms, learning centers and school districts in the United States, and a major supplier to educational institutions worldwide. Follett Content distributes books, eBooks, Makerspace and hands-on learning materials, and audiovisual and digital resources through Titlewave®, the most powerful online collection development and curriculum support tool for educators. Follow @FollettContent on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
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