One District, One Community, One Book

A community-wide literacy initiative led by the East Greenbush Central School District’s Committee to promote global education. From March 1 through April 5, 2023, students, families, staff, and community members were encouraged to read The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan and participate in related discussions and events.

Designed to bring the community together through a shared reading experience, the initiative promoted book talks, school- and library-sponsored activities, and celebrations of diversity and inclusion. The novel explores themes of friendship, acceptance, resilience, and community connection, highlighting how hope can emerge in unexpected ways.

The library offered a variety of related programs and activities throughout March 2023 that helped bring the book’s themes to life for local families and students.

In the Children’s Room, we hosted a month-long scavenger hunt, an interactive window display, take-and-make elephant crafts, and elephant-themed games at two Saturday Create and Play sessions. Our giant stuffed elephant “Veda” was on display for several days, drawing 113 students who took photos and collected tickets to return to their schools.

Library staff collaborated closely with the East Greenbush Central School District — advertising programs through the district’s online parent portal — which helped increase awareness and participation. We recorded our highest school-year participation in the monthly scavenger hunt tied to the book’s themes and also supported the Green Meadow after-school enrichment program by lending bins of LEGOs from our collection.

The head of Youth & Family Services at the time represented the library as a guest reader for the district’s video library, where she read Chapter 12 aloud.