2021 Awarded Grants
In our thirteenth year of operation, the Snapdragon Book Foundation was pleased to receive nearly 700 applications from all types of schools and from nearly every state in the country! Grants ranging from $1000 to $20,000 have been awarded to the deserving schools below. Winners will be additionally notified via email. We apologize for not being able to give specific feedback on proposals and hope that you’ll consider reapplying next year. Check back in August for our announcement of the 2021 “Next Up” school. The 2022 application will be available in November and will be due in February of 2022.
Academia Cesar Chavez Charter School
Saint Paul, MN
The Great Eight Book Challenge
The Academia Cesar Chavez Charter School library will offer multiple copies of eight, high-interest, new titles each month for eight months to their middle school readers to ignite a passion for not only reading books, but sharing in the love of reading.
Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women
Baltimore, MD
Building Resilience by Reaching the Whole Girl
This project will provide books about and by women of color. The books will help amplify the voices of those who were historically oppressed and marginalized. Connecting the shelves’ stories to the girls’ resilience will emphasize the books’ place in writing their own story.
Buffalo Collegiate Charter School
Buffalo, NY
Reading Their Stories and Writing Our Stories… A Library to Build Ourselves and Our Impact
Buffalo Collegiate will transform their small “”rolling cart”” library to a dedicated library space. This project will fill their shelves with culturally-relevant, fun and rigorous books to engage the various reading levels of their students.
Butler Traditional High School
Louisville, KY
ReadWokeButler
ReadWokeButler will provide the Butler High community with reading material that promotes diversity, inclusion, and mutual
respect for others. Founded by Cicely Lewis, a library media specialist at Meadowcreek High School in Georgia, the Read Woke movement encourages students to read books that “challenge a social norm; give voice to the voiceless; provide information about a group that has been disenfranchised; seek to challenge the status quo; include a protagonist from an underrepresented or oppressed group.” She invites educators around the world to join the movement, and Butler High School is all in!
respect for others. Founded by Cicely Lewis, a library media specialist at Meadowcreek High School in Georgia, the Read Woke movement encourages students to read books that “challenge a social norm; give voice to the voiceless; provide information about a group that has been disenfranchised; seek to challenge the status quo; include a protagonist from an underrepresented or oppressed group.” She invites educators around the world to join the movement, and Butler High School is all in!
Grant Wood Elementary School
Cedar Rapids, IA
Refresh and Re-engage
This project will update and refresh the fiction and picture book collection. It will also be used to completely replace the well loved and worn nonfiction books about dinosaurs and sharks. These are 2 sections in the library that are consistently checked out no matter the collection or the age!
Life School Oak Cliff Elementary
Dallas, TX
Culturally-Responsive Classroom Libraries for Low-Income Children in South Dallas
This project will provide an in-classroom library for each of the school’s 25 elementary classrooms. Every classroom will include approximately 300 books that span a rich variety of genres, so children will have a broad range of book selections that match their personal tastes.
Mni Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Wounspe
McLaughlin, SD
Indigenous School Library
This project will create an indigenous-rooted library that affirms and supports our young people and our community. Begun as a homeschool resource center for kids at the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock whose families were standing in support of the water and against an oil pipeline, Mni Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Wóuŋspe will now be a long-term school based in the environment and Lakhota tradition on Standing Rock.
Russell Springs Elementary School
Russell Springs, KY
RSES Library Collection Revitalization Project
This project is a complete overhaul of the Russell Springs library. They will update the collection to make sure students have access to accurate nonfiction, popular book series, recently released picture and chapter books, and graphic novels.
Saint Benedict Catholic School
Richmond, VA
A Second Century of Service
As Saint Benedict Catholic School enters their second century of service, their library will get a much needed update to all sections. They will refresh fiction and nonfiction sections, preparing the school for the next 100 years.
Shackelford Junior High
Arlington, TX
Beyond the Dead White Dudes: Finding Ourselves in Books
This project will provide new and relevant biography, autobiography, and memoir books that serve, reflect and amplify the voices that identify with our diverse student body. Titles will reflect their ethnicity, gender, disabilities, reading level, reading style, and languages.
Sharon Elementary
Orem, UT
Engaging Nonfiction
This project will update the Historical and Geographical sections of the library with the addition of the engaging series “”You Choose”” History books. This will increase the collection of history books by more than a third and enable the Sharon Elementary library to weed out old text books and outdated resources.
Visitation Catholic School
Chicago, IL
Hi-Low & Equitible Access
High/Low books and many graphic novels will make reading more accessible and enjoyable to the students at Visitation Catholic School. This project will give students an opportunity to pursue high interest books and empower them to read independently.
Walnut Creek Elementary
McDonough, GA
Wallabies Only Move Forward in Reading
This project is focused on providing books for students at their reading level and appropriate age. The outdated collection will receive a much needed update in nonfiction, graphic novels, and other books that can help bridge the gap for struggling readers between picture books and chapter books.
West Utica Elementary
Shelby Township, MI
Updated Library Books: A “Novel’ Idea!!!
This project will create a much needed Graphic Novel section at West Utica Elementary. They will add popular series like Dog-Man and The Babysitters Club, newer graphic series such as Wings of Fire and Amulet, nonfiction stories like March which is about the American Civil Rights Movement, and historically classic plays by Shakespeare.
Whiddon-Rogers Education Center
Fort Lauderdale, FL
CLASS Library – Children’s Library to Advance Student Success
This project will provide a small library of high-interest paperback books to incarcerated youth. The aim is to encourage a passion for reading, develop inquiring minds, improve student success in school, and expand student knowledge with real-world reading materials.