Columbia Heights School Library Money Woes Spur Online Fundraiser

A librarian at a Columbia Heights school is seeking donations to help buy books for her students amid budget cuts.

Jennie Tomlinson-Herr, the librarian at Chavez Prep Middle School (770 Kenyon St. NW), last week launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the low-income school’s library, which received a 70 percent cut in funding. With about $7,000 less at her disposal, Tomlinson-Herr can’t get the books that she said her need and want.

“The library’s need for books is critical — I have a long, long list of titles that students have requested that I can’t afford to buy,” she said on the fundraising website. “It’s upsetting when I have to tell my students that the library can’t afford to purchase more books. I try to avoid this whenever possible by purchasing highly requested titles out of my own pocket, but the need is greater than what I can afford as an individual.”

Chavez Prep has more than 300 students between sixth and ninth grades. About a third of them check out books from the library every day.

Photo via Chavez Prep Middle School GoFundMe