As a literacy professional, I've had the unique opportunity to travel to visit schools and attend conferences with Pre-K–12 colleagues from around the country. Additionally, I spent time in teacher groups via social media talking to teachers about their concerns over the lack of resources within schools. More specifically, conversations tend to include issues related to lack of access to books for teachers. This unfortunate reality also includes students getting less access to physical books.

For the past eight years, I have delved into research, service, and teaching related to eliminating "book deserts" within schools, correctional facilities, and communities. My earlier efforts can be traced back to grant work in this area. It is important to me that I ensure my recommendations related to book deserts also include actionable models and practical solutions to prevent this phenomenon from occurring in local schools, communities, and correctional facilities.

We still need to support additional research work in this area to document this stark reality. However, the need to ensure that we are also putting together sound practices that prevent book deserts in rural and urban areas is imperative. Therefore, I offer 10 suggestions for schools looking to address the pressing reality of book deserts.

10 Recommendations for Schools to Prevent Book Deserts

• School boards and school districts should allocate funding specifically for the purchase of high-interest books in various genres. This should include ordering books from graphic novels to nonfiction texts. 
• Every school needs a year-round book donation program. The program should include letters that go out to donors, volunteers, and the community regarding books. The books can be donated, or people can donate monetary donations.
• Every school should partner with local community libraries to get copies of texts they sell at the end of the month for monthly fundraising. This will allow schools the opportunity to fill both shelves in the library and classroom libraries.
• Every early childhood, elementary, and middle grade teacher should set a goal of having 250-500 high-interest books in their classroom libraries for students.
• Every media specialist should have a ‘no empty shelves’ movement in their media center to ensure that there are ample books in every genre and sub-genre in the library.
• Schools should consider hosting book giveaways each month. This will allow students to build their own libraries.
• Every principal or assistant principal should make sure there are high-interest books in every area of the school for students to have access and to engage in reading.
• Every school should have a school volunteer reading program every Friday where volunteers read high-interest books to children in grades Pre-K through fifth grade. This will allow children to have books read to them on a more frequent basis.
• Every school should have a book buddy program where children in grades four and five read to a child in grades Pre-K through second grade.
• Every school should set up a Little Free Library for every 5-10 block radius of the school to ensure children have access to books when school is not in session.

Potentially, there are many ways to prevent book deserts within schools. However, until we deal with the reality of what this means for children in rural and urban areas with little access to physical books or the internet, we will continue to see children without access to books in local schools.

Book deserts are not a problem that can solely be solved with access to free digital books. The need for physical books to give children the experience of flipping pages and interacting with real books is still crucial for most of the children we work with each day. As literacy professionals, it is imperative we review the literacy practices in our schools and districts for the students and families we serve to ensure equity. 

We must enact new ideas to ensure we serve children in the most creative fashion imaginable. We must create policies and procedures which consider fairness for children who are in underserved communities. Additionally, we must provide access to books for the most vulnerable children to ensure we pique the reading interests of children.    

Tiffany A. Flowers, PhD, is the Marie Berrell Endowed Professor of Literacy and director of the Literacy Center at Central Michigan University. She is a native Chicagoan with a doctorate in language, literacy, and culture from the University of Iowa.

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