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Santa Maria teacher holds ‘Sidewalk Library’ to encourage kids to read

santa maria sidewalk library
Annie Turner

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - One Santa Maria High School English teacher found a creative way to promote literacy during the pandemic.

Annie Turner created her own "Sidewalk Library" for the community.

The teacher sits in front of her school twice a week during her prep period with boxes of books for students.

The school's library is closed right now, so when students told her they didn't have access to books at home, she decided to take matters into her own hands - and to the sidewalk.

Turner carries her boxfuls of donated books and places them out by the Santa Maria High School sign every Thursday and Friday from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

"What we are really trying to do here is spread that literacy in Santa Maria where we know our students are language rich, but they are not very literate and they are also very vocabulary deficient. So my goal is just to get them reading to get them free access to free books," Turner said.

Turner said she is not asking for donations. She just requests that parents bring their kids by her library and encourage them to read.

Article Topic Follows: Community

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Genelle Padilla

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