There’s nothing like a brand new book. Magic City Books is donating thousands to Tulsa’s elementary schoolers next year.
The independent book store is expanding its “Share the Magic” program at Tulsa Public Schools, giving elementary teachers and librarians access to new class sets and books for students to take home at no cost to the district. Magic City has budgeted for at least 4,800 book donations.
“A new class set, really it ignites this community aspect of reading,” said Jenna Akuma, executive director of the nonprofit Tulsa Literary Coalition, which operates Magic City Books at 221 E. Archer St. “The idea is just to give those teachers that option and autonomy to decide what’s best for their class.”
The program rolled out to fourth graders at Title I schools in the district this spring. Of the 247 class set books and 150 sent home with students, Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” and Peter Brown’s “The Wild Robot” were clear favorites.
“We decided to start with fourth grade because there is a statistical drop in reading, especially reading for fun, around age nine and 10,” said Akuma. “So we thought, well, this would be a great place to start.”
Last semester, it took a week or two to get from a teacher’s request to books in hands, Akuma said. It may be a little longer next year as the program expands. But the team can still recognize a reading emergency.
Last May — days out from the end of school — fourth graders at Hoover Elementary had only made it to the middle of “Where the Red Fern Grows.” When their teacher reached out for a last-minute book donation, Matt Burris, Magic City’s store buyer, got on the horn.
By the last day of class, all 20 readers went home for the summer with a brand new copy of Old Dan and Little Ann’s story.
Any interested TPS staff can fill out this application form with their top three choices for titles and whether they’d like a class set or take-home books. All titles must be approved by the school’s librarian.
“I know that we will not turn everyone into an emphatic reader,” said Akuma. “But we’ll be able to, hopefully, get books out there that kids are excited about.”
This story was updated with Magic City Books’ application form.
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
