EASTHAMPTON — Flooded with natural light and adorned with comfortable seating, the elementary school library at the Mountain View School offers young students a space to relax, learn and get excited about reading.

But as students continue to recommend new additions to the library’s catalog, and sometimes even write their own, the amount of shelving available is struggling to keep up.

Gillian Keenan, the school’s elementary library media specialist, has coordinated a number of fundraisers since the new Mountain View School opened its doors in September 2022, funding new books and other materials for her students. Now, Keenan is seeking community support to buy additional shelving to prevent damage to certain books and to display the literary works created by students.

“All of our soft cover picture books are in bins on the floor, which often get stepped on,” said Keenan, pointing to several plastic storage bins brimming with beloved children’s titles.

For these books, Keenan hopes to procure a forward-facing book organizer that will keep books out of the way and allow students to peruse their reading options without damaging the covers or pages.

Students at the Mountain View School have displayed great enthusiasm about reading, especially since they get to help create the library that students will enjoy for years after them. Whenever a student can’t find a book in the library, they can bring the title to Keenan, who will put it into a spreadsheet and look into purchasing a copy for the library. Keenan said this often results in students eagerly approaching her and asking “is it here yet?”

But sometimes, students have a completely new idea to offer the literary world, and set out to write a book themselves. Recently, one young student wrote and crafted their own book, which they shared excitedly among classmates. Keenan saw this as a great way to get kids excited about reading and writing, and now as more students make their literary debuts, she helps to put together their work and is setting her sights on a prominent way to display them.

“The whole point of a library is not to force them to read, but to get them excited about reading,” said Keenan. “I want to make a space to dedicate to just displaying student books.”

Keenan hopes to use this fundraiser to get a rotating display shelf to display student work in the library, in addition to the needed shelving for paperback picture books.

This isn’t the first fundraiser that Keenan has needed to spearhead to create an enriching library space, and it won’t be the last. When it comes to libraries, she said there’s one thing you can’t ever have too much of: “books.”

“We have a lot of requests from last year that have not been fulfilled, and we have a lot of series where new books have come out,” Keenan said.

Last year, the library gained about 200 new books, many of which were paid for by previous fundraisers. Keenan also has been prioritizing expanding the library’s collection of books that offer “diverse perspectives.”

“A library is a community space, and I want all of my students to feel welcome here,” she said.

The deadline for the current fundraiser is Sept. 26, and Keenan will not receive her materials unless the entire $846.62 goal is met by then. At the time of writing, $464 is still needed to achieve this goal.

Those interested in donating should visit donorschoose.org/project/homes-for-books/8426629, and stay tuned throughout the coming school year for more opportunities to contribute to the growth of the elementary library.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.