CLiF’s Year of the Book provides $25,000 worth of literacy programs, support, and new children’s books to help build a culture of literacy in schools across New Hampshire and Vermont. This program targets schools that have a high percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch and students scoring below proficient in literacy assessments. Since we started CLiF’s Year of the Book we have sponsored 129 public elementary schools across the Twin States! Meet our current grant partners for 2025-26 here.

Activities and Support

Each sponsored school receives:

• Up to $25,000 worth of literacy programming and books across two years
• A wide variety of literacy-related programs that will take place during the school year, and several other forms of support (see “Overview” link below)
• New, high-quality children’s books for each student to keep and to select from hundreds of inspiring titles
• A follow-up “Momentum Grant” for 2026-27

Goals of Year of the Book

• Supplement elementary schools’ existing efforts to create a pro-literacy culture in the school community
• Encourage enthusiasm for books among students from preschool to grade 6 
• Inspire students to read and write for pleasure
• Support educators’ literacy curricula and creative integration of literacy into all areas of study
• Ensure all children have a collection of high-quality books of their own at home
• Get parents/caregivers more involved in their children’s literacy activities and encourage more reading at home

Eligibility

Public schools located in New Hampshire or Vermont with:

• At least 35% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch.*
• At least 30% of students scoring below proficient on reading and writing assessments.
• Students in grades preK-6
• Middle schools can apply for grades 5-6
• An enthusiastic and organized school-based individual to serve as the grant coordinator (or co-coordinators) and to collaborate with CLiF on planning, organizing, and scheduling Year of the Book events. CLiF will offer the coordinator a stipend of $800 for the year for their efforts (co-coordinators will split it).
• CLiF will partner with schools of all sizes, but CLiF programming has the greatest positive impact when it serves no more than 250 students. CLiF will ask schools with over 250 students which grades they will choose to serve. The children served by the grant should represent more than 50% of the K-6 student body.
• CLiF offers a “small school grant” to schools with 75 or fewer students (preK-6). This grant provides similar supports but on a reduced scale. You still need to fill out this application to be considered.

*If you are under or close to 35% FRL and have justification around challenges you face when collecting this data, you are welcome to apply and explain your situation. CLiF aims to serve students and communities most in need; we recognize a community may still show great need but not meet the 35% FRL threshold due to certain variables.

How CLiF Will Select Grant Recipients

Criteria will include:

• Demonstrated need, comprised of but not limited to percentage of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, assessment reading and writing scores, and written testimony.
• Geographic location and CLiF grant history.
• Enthusiasm, creativity, and collaboration exhibited by the school staff.
• Clear understanding of how this grant will benefit students and their families.
• School commitment and readiness to fulfilling the award requirements described above.

To Apply

The application for the 2026-27 cohort will open on January 1, 2026.

Please note: a school that has received the Year of the Book grant must wait a minimum of five years from the completion of the grant before applying for the Year of the Book again – or four years from the completion of your Momentum year. Contact Cassie if you’d like to learn more, need technical support, or have any questions about eligibility (cassie@clifonline.org).