Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary Wins National Grant to Expand School Library

CARENCRO, La. (KPEL News) — For students at Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary, a trip to the school library just got a whole lot more exciting.

With rows of new books filling freshly labeled shelves, the school is celebrating a major win: a national grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.

A Major Literacy Boost for Lafayette Parish Students

The school was recently named one of only 200 nationwide to receive the prestigious 2025 Laura Bush Foundation grant, awarded annually to schools serving diverse and underserved student populations.

Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary—a PreK–5 campus in the Lafayette Parish School System with roughly 700 students, many of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch—was selected for its dedication to literacy and student engagement.

“This grant is going to have a real, lasting impact on our students,” said Kelsye Baudoin, who has served as the school’s librarian for six years. “We’re updating shelves that haven’t been refreshed in years. These books aren’t just new—they’re relevant, diverse, and designed to engage today’s readers.”

Tied to Laura Bush’s 2025 Summer Reading List

As part of the award, the school is receiving a curated collection of titles featured in Laura Bush’s 2025 Summer Reading List. The annual list was unveiled during the Engage at the Bush Center speaker series and includes books for readers ranging from early elementary to middle school. Titles were chosen to spark curiosity, promote independent reading, and support summer literacy.

Baudoin added, “One of my second graders came back the next day asking for another book by the same author. That’s how we know it’s working.”

$12,000 in New Books—and Growing

The Laura Bush Foundation grant isn’t the school’s only recent win. Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary also received a $2,000 grant from the Walmart Spark Good Foundation. Combined with support from the Lafayette Parish School System and book fair proceeds, the school has added over $12,000 in new books to its library this year alone.

These funds have helped refresh the fiction and nonfiction collections, many of which hadn’t seen updates in a decade.

What’s Next: Summer Reading and Battle of the Books

While this progress marks a big leap forward, Baudoin says the work isn’t done. The school has launched a DonorsChoose campaign aimed at securing additional books from the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award list—a key component of its summer reading initiative and a planned Battle of the Books tournament for the 2025–2026 school year.

“We want kids to see themselves in these stories, to get excited about reading, and to feel like the library belongs to them,” Baudoin said. “That’s what this is really about.”

Help Make a Difference

Want to support the school’s next chapter? Community members can contribute directly to the DonorsChoose campaign: https://www.donorschoose.org/project/battle-of-the-books-2025-2026/9096406/

To learn more about the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries: www.laurabushfoundation.org.