Snohomish’s Emerson Elementary librarian nationally recognized for her roving Book Cafe

SNOHOMISH — The photographers tipped her off.

Jenny Granger, a librarian at Snohomish’s Emerson Elementary, suspected something was up at the Friday school assembly, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. So she was surprised to learn that she was receiving national recognition as a “Life Changer of the Year.” That’s why reporters and photographers were there.

Granger was honored for converting an old yellow school bus into a rolling library that brings books to low-income neighborhoods and places where children gather in Snohomish during the summer.

“This is overwhelming,” she said. “But the project really depended on a lot of people. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”

At Friday’s assembly, students and staff clapped and cheered for their librarian. They were told she was selected as one of the top 10 life-changing educators from more than 600 nominees across the county.

“I should have clapped more,” Emerson third-grader Jaden Riffe, 8, whispered.

The award came with $1,500 for Granger and another $1,500 for Emerson Elementary. Principal Craig Church gave Granger the school’s money to invest in her book bus. He hopes the award will help put more energy into her project and attract more volunteers and donations.

“This shows that somebody’s little idea can grow into amazing things and touch people’s hearts,” Church said.

The National Life Group, a Vermont-headquartered company that provides financial services for educators, pays for the award program. A committee of past winners chooses the recipients.

“Changing lives for good is something we can all value,” said Bob Johnson, the company’s field vice president in Auburn. “That’s what educators do all of their working lives.”

Granger’s mother, Rob Graham, came to the school assembly from Bellingham on Friday. She said she wasn’t surprised when her daughter wanted to spend her summer break getting kids to do more reading.

“She’s just always loved books,” Graham said.

Granger has long had her sights on beating the “summer slide.” That’s a term educators use to describe a general drop in student scores between tests in June and September. Granger says a big factor is the fact that kids don’t read as much during the summer.

So she decided to do something about it. Granger opened the school library for a few hours each week during the summer of 2012. But many students didn’t have a ride to the school.

In 2013, she tried the traveling library approach in a 1970s van. That was tough because tubs of books had to be lugged in and out of the red van at each stop.

Last summer, she turned a bus into a roving bookmobile. The Book Cafe makes stops that coincide with the times and locations of subsidized summer lunch programs. Granger encourages kids to come aboard and pick out books.

“You can get as many books as you want,” said sixth-grader Leslie Hernandez, 12. “And you can keep them or return them.”

Inside the bus, the books are shelved in wooden boxes similar to those in a record store so kids can see the illustrations on the front as they sort through titles.

“They have good books that I like,” said Emerson fifth-grader Jessica Rojas, 11, noting that her favorites include realistic fiction and books with chapters.

The bus looks cartoonish, with hot-pink eyelashes over the headlights. The extendable stop sign that was used to stop traffic while loading and unloading kids now says “Read.”

For the first time this summer, students will be able to download e-books on the bus. Granger also hopes to add a couple of stops to the route.

Kim Heinemann, the district’s administrative assistant, nominated Granger for the award.

“It makes a big difference,” Heinemann said. “She truly changes lives.”

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.