The Barbara Bush Foundation’s Reading Resource Library

Are you working with Advanced English Language Learners or students preparing for high school equivalency who need high-interest reading materials and activities? Look no further than The Barbara Bush Foundation’s Reading Resource Library! It provides book lists and classroom activity ideas for adult learners on topics such as civil rights, activism, gratitude, family and community, diverse America and more!

View the Reading Resource Library collection slide decks (links below) to get a basic understanding of the texts in the collection to help you choose a title. Here are the topics from Collection 1 with just a few example titles. 

Collection 1

• Civil Rights:  The Hate U Give, X: A Novel and Dear Martin
• Activism:  Hoot, March: Book One and Tyler Johnson Was Here
• Fantasy / Science Fiction:  Crenshaw, The Witch Hunter and The City of Ember
• Inspirational Texts:  Dear Evan Hansen, Out of My Mind, and The Seventh Most Important Thing

Check out additional titles in the other three collections:

• Collection 2:  Gratitude, Mystery, Sports and Physical Health
• Collection 3:  Historical Fiction, Diverse America, Family and Community and Collections & Series 
• Collection 4:  Suspense & Supernatural, Realistic Fiction, Action and Adventure and All Stories Tell a Story

Once you have a topic or book selected, refer to the Reading Resource Library Guides for each topic to get lexile level of the texts, activity ideas and support resources. Here’s a sampling: Civil Rights, Activism, Gratitude, Diverse America, Family and Community. Scroll to the bottom of this page to view links to each collection and its corresponding Reading Resource Library Guides. 

Finally, get help with planning lessons from the Instructor Planning Materials document that can be used with any title. 

Develop essential reading skills and a love of getting lost in a book with your learners with these helpful resources from the Barbara Bush Foundation!

For questions or comments regarding this Tutor Tip, please contact Tutor Training Coordinator, Meghan Boyle at mboyle@literacymn.org.