Remodeled Media Center Unveiled at Foster Elementary

Foster Elementary School principal Debbie Mills couldn’t stop smiling.

“This is just the beginning of great things to come,” she said, looking over a newly renovated library media center.

On Wednesday, Mills and the teachers and students she leads at Foster toured their library for the first time since it was completely remodeled over the past month by Target and The Heart of America Foundation as part of the Target School Library Makeover Program.

The library now features 2,000 additional new books, eco-friendly design elements, a complete technology upgrade, as well as new furniture, carpet and shelves. As part of the unveiling festivities, Target gave each student at Foster and his or her siblings seven new books to add to their own home collections.

“Since we began here, our vision was for the media center to become the heart of the school,” Mills said.

The additional books, resources and upgraded computers put Foster’s young students “in a different league,” she said.

Hillsborough County School Board Member Dorothea Edgecomb was among several local community leaders on hand for the ribbon cutting and gave some of the opening remarks.

“It feels like Christmas in September!” she said of the unveiling.

Heart of America Foundation President and Founder Angie Halamandaris thanked Target for its donation and its employees for volunteering. But the focus of the project was the students, she said.

“Today is truly a celebration of you,” she said to the students, “a celebration of your faculty and of the sea of red Target shirts you see in this room.”

In addition to the remodeled library, the Foster Elementary community is set to be the first school to receive a Target Meals for Minds school-based food pantry, which was incorporated as part of the renovation process. The pantry will be unveiled during a parent-teacher conference night in November. It will allow all students and their families to choose from a variety of staple foods and fresh produce to take home.

As part of the 2011 Target School Library Makeover season, Target will renovate a total of 42 school libraries nationwide this year. Since it began in 2007, Target has remodeled 118 school libraries, said Target spokeswoman Jennifer Moe.

The program is part of Target’s commitment to help more U.S. children read proficiently by the end of third grade. As a result of programs like this one, Target is on track to reach a total of $1 billion in giving to education, with a focus on reading, by the end of 2015.