Monroe City library project hopes to help students “find a community”

Published 7:34 am Friday, July 31, 2026

MONROE CITY — Monroe City teacher Gretchen Hudson loves to share books with people to spur a love of reading.

“I am a firm believer if someone says they don’t like reading, then they just haven’t found the right books yet,” Hudson said. “As humans, we naturally seek community, and a good way for students to find community would be through characters of a book that have experienced things they have experienced. I want to show students that they can find a book and find a community within a literary world and share that with other people.”

Hudson gets the opportunity this school year with the district’s seventh- and eighth-graders thanks to a new library space created in partnership with the Monroe City R-1 Education Foundation.

Work is underway to convert Hudson’s middle school classroom into a library with furnishings, books, and resources tailored to the older middle school students.

“They’re not wanting to read little kid books anymore and are not necessarily ready for senior-level texts at the high school,” Hudson said. “By having their own space and own collection of books, they’ll feel like they’re reading things that are more meant for them instead of having to share a space and share books with the elementary school.”

A peek at the new space — and an opportunity to learn more about the foundation’s first designated capital campaign — will be available at Monday night’s Lemonade in the Library. The open house-style event, sponsored by the foundation, begins at 5 p.m. with entry through the middle school/elementary complex office doors.

“It’s a chance for community members to come see the space. It has some furnishings in it — the shelves aren’t stocked yet — but they’ll have an idea of what the vision is for that room and can visit with the librarians and some school staff, as well as board members of the foundation,” Foundation Board President JoLynn Yates said.

The foundation, with help from the community, hopes to raise at least $20,000 with the campaign to support the library project.

“It’s our intent to provide the furnishings, and any additional funds we reach beyond that would be for new books,” Yates said. “We want to make it so they enjoy recreational reading that can carry them through their lifetime.”

The district’s seventh- and eighth-graders in recent years had only limited access to the elementary library and its library specialist, which reduced their library skills and interest in reading.

Plans for creating the library space began last year when Hudson mentioned at a back-to-school staff meeting that she had started taking online classes to work toward library science certification. By October, now-retired Principal Troy Patterson, Hudson, and High School Librarian Kari Williams were busy brainstorming ideas for this year, with Superintendent Tony DeGrave lending his support.

Students stand to gain personally and academically from the space, with Hudson set to split time this year between the middle school library and teaching English language arts for high school juniors and seniors.

“Books and reading help us to understand the world better, to infer meaning, draw conclusions, and understand deeper meanings of text. If we get students to be able to find a book they really like, they’re practicing these skills without really realizing it because they’re immersed in the story — and that will carry over into their ELA classes and their ELA lessons,” Hudson said. “Whenever they’re reading for fun, when it comes to academic reading, writing, and research, they have built up those skills and the capability they need to excel academically too.”

Support for the library project came from the foundation, which has worked since 2017 to encourage, equip, and empower students and staff to achieve their highest potential and dreams.

The foundation’s weekly Ace of Diamonds Raffle, an annual golf tournament, and cosponsoring a trivia night with Monroe City FFA, along with individual donors, provide financial support for the grants, including one to Hudson to help with a “wish list” of library materials, as well as professional development for staff, scholarships for dual credit students, sponsorships for special programs, and meeting basic student needs.

“For this coming school year, we are doing a little over $23,000 in grants for staff. We have really grown,” Yates said. “Hopefully this is just the first capital campaign for a specific project that our school district needs.”