Hermosa Elementary School’s library recently expanded by 144 brand-new books after the Superkids topped the competition in a statewide eBook reading contest.
Hermosa librarian Christy Aguilar, who is in her fourth year with the school, conducted participation in the contest, which saw the local elementary competing against around 60 others from throughout the state.
The grand prize was a complete set of 144 hardback books and two years of free access to the Fun eReader program, an eReader that offers 150 dual-language, interactive, STEM eBooks.
The contest ran from September through December 2017. Aguilar says students were able to listen to eBooks during library time, in their classrooms, and at home, with each completed book helping the school toward its goal of winning the contest.
She said participation was also a “double-whammy” for the students, as they were able to take AR tests and earn points toward their individual AR goals.
Hermosa finished the contest with nearly 4,000 total eBooks read, far and away the most among the competing schools. Coming in second was North Star Elementary of Albuquerque with 2,221 eBooks, followed by Jefferson Montessori Academy of Carlsbad with 1,857.
The 144 books were recently delivered to the library. Aguilar says the books are nonfiction and cover a wide variety of topics, some of which have already proven more popular than other with students.
“There’s a planet book my first-graders just went crazy for,” Aguilar said.