Come share in a slice of your child’s day by joining them in their library class (or another class that fits your schedule).  Parent/caregiver volunteers assist librarians in class in a variety of ways, including:

• Check-in and Shelve Books
• Assist Students Find Books and Check-out
• Read to Students
• Organize Shelves and Choose Books for Display
• Assist in Classroom Activities

Time Commitment: about 40 minutes during school hours.

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FAQ: When is my child’s Library class?

The annual Brackett Book Fair raises money for the Brackett Library — on average the library earns about $2,000-2,500 in proceeds each year from the Book Fair.  These funds are used to purchase new books to add to the Brackett Library’s collection.

The fair lasts for one week and takes place in the Brackett Library, generally in the late-fall or early-winter.

This year’s Book Fair will take place December 1-5, 2025. 

Volunteer Opportunities:

Volunteers are needed to staff the Book Fair, responsibilities include:

• Helping students select and make purchases
• Running cash registers
• Restocking and organizing books for sale

Time Commitment: about 40 minutes – 2 hours.  Opportunities include shifts during the school day, directly before and after school, and in the evening.

Read-a-Thon

Every year, Brackett students are encouraged to curl up with a good book as the school works together to meet a goal for minutes read over the span of two weeks.  Students log their minutes through an online portal where they also get to vote for what inflatable costumes the principals have to dress up in if they meet their goal.

Last year, the students were given a goal of 200,000 minutes, including reading both in and out of school — students far exceeded their target by reading 323,889 minutes!

The Read-a-Thon also serves as one of the major fundraisers for the Brackett PTO — family members and friends have the option to donate to their student’s fundraising page on 99 Pledges, where their contributions help fund the PTO’s mission to support academic enrichment, teachers, and the Brackett community.

This year, the Read-a-Thon will take place Tuesday, January 20 – Friday, January 30, 2026.

Literacy Week

The first week of Read-a-Thon is Literacy Week (Tuesday, January 20 – Friday, January 23), where students have fun-filled activities each day in and out of school.

The activities vary each year — previous favorites have been “Surprise Switcharoo” (where teachers switched classrooms for a special read-aloud story time), Read to a Furry Friend (students are encouraged to read to a special stuffie or pet at home), Drop Everything and Read (a surprise announcement was made during the day and students stopped what they were doing in class for a reading break), and Dress as Your Favorite Book Character Day.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Parent/caregiver volunteers are needed to organize the Read-a-Thon and Literacy Week by:

• Tallying students reading log submissions
• Managing the fundraising online platform
• Creating and distributing flyers and information about the Read-a-Thon
• Creating a Reading Log bookmark to be given to students.
• Brainstorming Literacy Week activities
• Purchasing and distributing “prizes” to students (e.g. pencils, stickers, bookmarks that are given to all students)
• Updating a progress “thermometer” at the school during the event

Commitment Time:  varies depending on the task — the Read-a-Thon is a generally a team of volunteers that share/split the above responsibilities.  Expect about 1 hour/week in the 2-3 weeks leading up to the Read-a-Thon and 1-2 hours/week during the two-week Read-a-Thon.

The Library Committee kicks off literacy for the new school year at Fall Fest by hosting a Make Your Own Bookmark table that features fall-themed supplies to decorate and customize a bookmark. 

We also participate in Culture and Creativity Night by hosting a table showcasing a selection of the many books in our library that celebrate diversity in literature.  Families were able to see some of the books we have read in library classes that explore the many cultures that make up our world.

At STEM Night, we host a Sponsor-a-STEM-Book table where families can donate a book off of the librarian’s STEM wish list.  Families get to fill out a special bookplate that will go into their donation and the books are added to the Brackett Library.  

Volunteer Opportunities:

Volunteers host a library table at a school event by selecting library books to share with families, facilitating sponsor-a-book donations, and answering questions about library volunteer opportunities.

Time Commitment: about 1-2 hours at an evening/weekend PTO school event.