Decatur City Schools Foundation

When you walk in to the library at Benjamin Davis Elementary, one of the first things you’ll notice is how Jenipher Patterson uses everything in sight to make the most of what the library has. The seats are covered with homemade covers to make them last longer. Art made from re-purposed library cards hangs on the walls. On the shelves, dog-eared corners and bindings reinforced with tape tell the story of keeping much-loved books in circulation for young readers. But today, the tables are covered with a collection of brand-new books. They’re lovingly arranged to tell the story of why they’re needed in this library. Mrs. Patterson explains as she holds up a copy of Believe Me, I Never Felt a Pea, “This set is great because it teaches the kids about point-of-view by telling well-known fairy tales from the perspective of a different character from the story than you normally hear it told from.”   Another table is full of books arranged in pairs so that it’s easy to see the logi