Representatives from Dollar General presented a $20,000 Beyond Words Grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to the Perryville High School library during a presentation on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The grant will help PHS library purchase new books after it lost 90 percent of its collection during the March 14 tornado. The storm blew out the library windows at PHS causing a majority of the books to be damaged by moisture and debris.
“We went from 7,800 books to 400 books overnight,” said PHS Librarian Heather Baskin. “We are so thankful to the Dollar General Foundation for this grant. It will be an enormous help for us in starting to build back our collection.”
The start of the 2025-26 school year has been characterized by resilience and adaptability for PHS students, who are attending classes in temporary facilities due to the tornado damage at the high school building. The same is true for PHS readers, who have had to make due with the limited choices available in the temporary library space in Old Senior High. The library has received some book donations since the storm, but there are still fewer options than typically would be available.
“When the tornado hit our school, it seemed to be one of the worst shames that nearly all the books were lost for good. I just thought that would be a fact I'd have to accept,” said senior Emma Fetterhoff. “With this new donation of books, I can't even believe I'll have the opportunity to browse the library shelves once more.”
"I'm so excited to get new books!” said PHS sophomore Abigail Bridges”It will greatly benefit our library and our students to have a larger selection of reading material as well as boost the spirits and hopes for recovery and bring back some normalcy."
Baskin learned about the Beyond Words Grant through a librarian Facebook group. According to the Dollar General Foundation website, Beyond Words is awarded to K-12 public school libraries that have incurred substantial damage or hardship due to a natural disaster, fire or an act recognized by the federal government as terrorism.
Baskin said she anticipates she will be able to purchase 1,000-1,200 books with the grant funding. She is focusing the shopping list on the most relevant and requested books. District 32 is hopeful an insurance payout will eventually enable the PHS library to fully restock the collection.
“The average publication date of our damaged collection is 2006, and I found a lot of our older books just weren’t being checked out,” Baskin said. “We are really just looking at this as an opportunity to revitalize.”
Some of the authors and series Baskin plans to add include:
Alan Gratz, who writes historical fiction
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, who writes “The Inheritance Games” mystery/thriller series
Darcy Coates, who writes horror fiction
"I'm so excited that the library is getting new books!” said PHS sophomore Ziva Thurman ”After everything that happened with the storm, it's amazing to know our shelves will be filled again."
Photo courtesy of Kevin Jenkins, Perryville Republic Monitor.
Pictured, from left: DG Regional Director Jamie Tylka, PHS Assistant Principal Lisa Martin, District 32 Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones, PHS Principal Shadrick Shafer, PHS Librarian Heather Baskin, DG Divisional Vice President Adam Elder, DG District Manager Chase Willison, DG District Manager Kerri Drury