Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has designated Lucy Wortham James Elementary (LWJE) as a 2025-26 Exemplary School Library, recognizing it for its support of classroom learning, access to diverse resources and welcoming environment for students.

The distinction highlights Missouri school libraries that go above and beyond in their service to their school communities. This is LWJE Librarian Hope Hunter’s third year receiving the award. Lisa Scroggs, Director of Literacy with DESE, attended the May 20 Board of Education meeting to present the honor to Hunter.

“The other 13 (schools) who are receiving this, they are all from the St. Louis area, the Kansas City area and Jefferson City,” Scroggs said. “To see a rural elementary school receive this very, very tough honor to receive, it’s phenomenal.”

The scoring rubric evaluates schools based on 21 indicators that signify effective library services and program impact. Schools must demonstrate high levels of performance across all areas, earning at least 38 out of 42 possible points to receive the distinction.

Scroggs presented resolutions to Hunter from State Representative Tara Peters, Senator Justin Brown and from the Missouri State Board of Education to mark the achievement.

Hunter gave her annual elementary library report to the board, discussing various programs she’s implemented to support students. She shared that there were 1,830 kids who came to check out library books and materials outside of their weekly scheduled class visits.

“Those 1,800 kids are kids that needed more to read,” Hunter said.

She discussed how she’s implemented teacher collaboration by adding library skills and other enrichment opportunities into library programming to support classroom lessons. Fifth graders laid under tables to draw on paper taped above them, simulating what Michelangelo felt while painting the Sistine Chapel. Third graders used augmented reality to learn about the skeletal system.

Hunter has also brought some special guests into the library. There have been two author visits this year, one of which was the first all-school assembly since before the COVID-19 pandemic. State Representative Tara Peters also visited for Missouri Read In Day.

“When I go to professional development, and when I try to learn to be a better librarian all the time, one of the things that we’re constantly recommended to do is get people into our libraries, especially people who may not know really what we do every day – particularly legislators who are making laws and rules about our jobs,” Hunter explained.

The library’s diverse resources were another item that made it stand out when being evaluated for the award. Students spent four weeks this year “traveling” to a new country each week to learn about its culture. 

A favorite among students was their visit to Vietnam, where they used chopsticks, made traditional hats and used Google translate to hear the language. The program was so popular that Hunter plans to bring it back next year.

“In fact, after those four weeks were over, for the rest of the visits – even through my visits last week – the kids were all saying, ‘where are we traveling to today?’”

Hunter also leads weekly storytime for kindergarten, Tiger Cubs, Tiger Tots and the resource room. This year, the school had 119 students and 19 staff members who qualified for the Mark Twain Readers Award, up from its previous record of 85, pre-pandemic.