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Washington, D.C. - Rep. Timothy V. Johnson today announced the award of sets of 17 classic books on the theme of “Created Equal” to 21 public and school libraries throughout the 15th Congressional District.
The award is made possible through the National Endowment for the Humanities’(NEH) We the People Bookshelf program.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce these awards and see these particular books getting into the hands of young people throughout my district,” Rep. Johnson said. “As a history major in college, I treasure the lessons of these books and believe they have been chosen well to teach the value of one of our nation’s greatest founding principles – equality.”
NEH Chairman Bruce Cole said the “We the People Bookshelf” exposes young readers to a fuller understanding of vital ideas in our nation’s history. “Through the power of these stories, millions of young readers will have the opportunity to examine the central tenet of our American identity: that all human beings ‘are created equal,’” Cole said.
Libraries receiving the books in the 15th Congressional District are as follows: Bismarck-Henning Grade School Library, Bismarck-Henning High School, Bismarck-Henning Junior High School, Bloomington High School, Bloomington Central Catholic High School, Champaign’s Jefferson Middle School, Clifton Public Library, Colfax Martin Township Public Library, Decatur’s Baum Elementary School and Decatur’s Brush College Accelerated School.
Also, Fairbury’s Dominy Memorial Library, Fairbury’s Prairie Central High School, the Farmer City Public Library, Flanagan Central United School District, Hudson Area Public Library, Mahomet Public Library, Marshall Public Library, Odell Public Library, Pontiac Public Library, Tolono’s Unity Junior High School and the Westville Public Library.
Nationwide, the We the People Bookshelf program will distribute 3000 sets of books to city, town, and neighborhood libraries as well as libraries in public, private, and charter schools and home school consortia in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each library will receive a set of the 17 books along with posters, bookmarks, and other promotional materials from NEH through the American Library Association (ALA), which is working in partnership with the Endowment. As part of the award, libraries are organizing programs or events to raise awareness of these classic books and engage young readers.
The books selected for the “Created Equal” Bookshelf include several on Abraham Lincoln to facilitate programming for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial over the next year. These include a “History in a Box” collection of resource materials on Lincoln developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American history.
The We the People "Created Equal" Bookshelf contains the following books:
Kindergarten to Grade 3
- The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen
- The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, illustrated by Michael McCurdy
- Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
- Pink y Say by Patricia Polacco (translated by Alejandra López Varela)
Grades 4 to 6
- Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Independence by Russell Freedman
- Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
- Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom by Virginia Hamilton
- Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
- Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (translated by Rosa Benavides)
Grades 7 to 8
- Saturnalia by Paul Fleishman
- Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
- Abraham Lincoln the Writer: A Treasury of His Greatest Speeches And Letters edited by Harold Holzer
- Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez
- Senderos Fronterizos by Francisco Jiménez (translated by Francisco Jiménez)
Grades 9 to 12
- Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
- That All People May Be One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face of the Earth by Nez Perce Chief Joseph
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Flores para Algernon by Daniel Keyes (translated by Paz Barroso)
- Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography by William Lee Miller
- Amistad: A Novel by David Pesci
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