The Bourbonnais Public Library District has been awarded a $1,025 Slice of Literacy grant from the Pizza Hut Foundation, a boost that the library says will fund a year-long reading initiative for local teens. The grant arrives as students return to school and aims to expand opportunities for young readers across the community.
Library officials describe the funding as the seed for a new **Teen Reading Challenge** running through the entire academic year. The program is designed to nudge teenagers toward diverse titles, deepen engagement with books and broaden access to reading opportunities outside the classroom.
What the grant supports
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- Amount: $1,025 awarded to the Bourbonnais Public Library District.
- Program: A year-long Teen Reading Challenge offering genre-based activities and reading goals.
- Target: Teen readers in Bourbonnais and surrounding neighborhoods.
- Source: Pizza Hut Foundation’s Slice of Literacy initiative, part of the broader Book It! family of programs.
Alexa Johnson, the library’s teen services supervisor, said the grant will allow staff to introduce structured challenges and events aimed at sparking curiosity and helping teens explore new kinds of books. She noted the library plans to use the funds for programming materials, incentives and marketing to reach families who might not otherwise participate.
Why this matters locally
Small grants like this can make a practical difference for community libraries that operate on tight budgets. For Bourbonnais, the award means dedicated resources for outreach to adolescents—a group often overlooked in general library programming.
Beyond immediate classroom benefits, library leaders say the challenge is intended to build longer-term reading habits, encourage peer discussion around books and provide a welcoming space for discovery during after-school hours.
Eligibility for the Pizza Hut Foundation’s Slice of Literacy grants is limited to nonprofits located within a 15-mile radius of a Pizza Hut restaurant and focused on improving literacy. For organizations or residents who want to learn more about the foundation’s work, details are available at PizzaHutFoundation.org.
Officials expect the Teen Reading Challenge to roll out this fall, with a schedule of events, reading lists and progress milestones shared through the library’s website and social channels as the school year progresses.
