SPL Story Squad
The Library delivers supplemental books to teachers at Seattle Public Schools to support reading for fun in their classrooms.
These deliveries will occur regularly throughout the school year. Through a pilot at Bailey Gatzert second grade classrooms in the fall of 2025, we hope to learn the best way to bring this program to even more classrooms and continue our close partnership with SPS.
How It Works for Teachers
We're excited to support you in nurturing your students' literacy skills and love of reading. Our pilot program will follow the steps outlined below, and we'll use your valuable feedback to improve future classroom implementations.
1. You will get an institutional Library card account. These accounts will have larger checkout limits and extended due dates for materials, so that you can keep anything we send for as long as you’d like.
2. Select from a list of topical kits, such as “adventure books” or “books about space.” These kits will be created with your input to provide reading for fun and curriculum support in your classrooms, so we welcome your suggestions for topics! Kits will include 20-30 individual titles.
3. Choose books from curated lists of materials for second grade. Requests are placed via our holds system. Check-outs can last for a few weeks or up to a month.
4. We will check out these books to your account and set a due date for an agreed-upon time in the future (one month to six months depending on teacher feedback).
5. We will include these kits in our regular book exchange deliveries, and they will arrive in your classroom.
6. Your students can enjoy these in-class materials for the whole checkout period. When it’s time to return them, simply put the lid back on and flip over the laminated sign on the top to show that the bin is going back to the Library. Your school’s delivery system will pick up the kits from your classroom.
7. Repeat with new books!
You can also place holds on any Library materials using your institutional account and pick them up at a branch of your choosing. These materials will check out for the standard three-week period, but we’ll be happy to extend it for you if desired.
Share Your Feedback
Your feedback on this pilot is crucial. Please fill out our survey to share thoughts during any point in the process. Together, we’ll assess the pilot and adjust the program to better meet your classroom’s needs and goals.