ROGERS — The Lingle Middle School restoration project just received another lift thanks to a $20,000 grant.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation presented the school with a “Beyond Words” grant to support the library’s restocking efforts during a Thursday morning ceremony at the school. The grant will help replenish the library’s book collection after it sustained severe damage during the 2024 Memorial Day weekend storm.
Mary Jane Reed and Mark Gottsponer presented the grant to Tara Herbert, the library media specialist at Lingle Middle School, and Erik Sokol, the school’s principal. Gottsponer said the purpose of the Beyond Words grant is to help schools rebuild and restock libraries after they have incurred major damage.
“When you submit to that grant, then a group at the company corporate office goes through and selects candidates, and this school was chosen for a $20,000 donation,” Gottsponer said.
Herbert applied for the grant on behalf of the school. While the school recovered some books, which are back on the shelves in the restored library, many were lost or destroyed in the storm, including every Spanish-language book.
About 47% of the school’s students last year identified as Hispanic, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Education.
“When I found out about this grant, I thought, ‘Well, that would be a great way to help build up my books in Spanish,'” Herbert said. “So we will be using that money to replace the books that were in Spanish, and then also to help with our graphic novel section, because the graphic novels, that is the most used section in the library.”
Lingle Middle is most of the way through its restoration project. The school sustained $12 million in damage in May 2024, requiring classes to relocate for the 2024-25 school year.
Herbert described the image of a destroyed library as heartbreaking, especially as someone who has been a librarian at the school for 17 years. She recalls “a lot of dust and dirt” and remembers seeing significant water damage on the backside of the room.
“It was heartbreaking to see all the things that I had created throughout the years gone,” she said. “And so it’s kind of exciting now, because it is like a blank slate in here, and we’re starting new and can do things just in a different, new way.”
Lingle’s 643 students used 44 temporary classroom trailers on the campus of Rogers New Tech High School — now known as the Rogers Academy of Leadership and Innovation — last year. Lingle’s sixth-grade classes used First Baptist Church on Olive Street for the first two weeks of the year while the remaining trailers were being prepared.
Herbert’s library also operated out of a trailer with a smaller book selection. A silver lining for her was the opportunity to tinker with book organization methods in the new space to help students find their favorite genres.
“We did a little experiment where we genre-fied the library in the small temporary space, and we feel like the kids really like that,” she said. “So that is one thing we changed here. Now all the books are in alphabetical order by author’s last name, but within the genre they belong in. And we feel like that just really helps the kids when trying to make a good book selection.”
Milestone Construction Co. has handled the restoration project. Demolition began in October 2024, following a months-long planning, design and permitting process. The restored Lingle Middle School building features new floors, brighter lights and updated common spaces.
Students returned to the building Aug. 13, the first day of classes of this school year.
Construction crews are still putting the finishing touches on the school. Gym floors still need finishing, and hallway signage will be added in the coming weeks.
Crews are also working to complete the school’s “safe room,” located in the school band and orchestra practice spaces. Arkansas law now requires new school buildings to contain storm shelters capable of holding all students and staff. The walls and roofing in these facilities are stronger and can withstand high-speed winds from tornadoes and other severe storms.
Perry said during an April School Board meeting Federal Emergency Management Agency funding will cover 75% of the cost for the safe room, amounting to about $4.5 million.
The library has been completely rebuilt, and the school has replaced old furniture. Herbert said she hopes to add signage and other elements in the coming months to make things easier to find while livening up the space.
She described the library as the school’s “hub,” given the building’s design. She said she wants to ensure it is a safe, fun space where kids can come to read, work with Legos and play board games such as chess and checkers.
“It’s just a place that kids can come and relax and read,” Herbert said. “And, to me, reading is the most important thing. If you are a reader, it is going to help you in every subject. And I’m passionate about reading, and I love sharing that passion with my students. And that is my number one goal as a librarian — to create lifelong readers.”
Mark Gottsponer, from left, and Mary Jane Reed present a $20,000 “Beyond Words” grant to Tara Herbert, library media specialist at Lingle Middle School, and Erik Sokol, the school’s principal, in the school’s library on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Herbert applied for the grant on behalf of the school to replace books that were lost or damaged during the 2024 Memorial Day weekend storm. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards the “Beyond Words” grant to K-12 public school libraries after they have incurred significant damage. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Edward McKinnon)
Mark Gottsponer, from left, a regional director for Dollar General, chats with Tara Herbert, library media specialist at Lingle Middle School, and Erik Sokol, the school’s principal, in the renovated library space Thursday. Herbert applied for the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s $20,000 “Beyond Words” grant on behalf of the school to replace books that were lost or damaged during the 2024 Memorial Day weekend storm. The foundation awards the grant to K-12 public school libraries after they have incurred significant damage. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Edward McKinnon)
The interior of Lingle Middle School in Rogers is seen May 31, 2024, as staff members helped clean up following a storm earlier that week that caused major damage to the school. The Rogers School District subsequently closed the building for the 2024-25 school year. (Photo by Jason Ivester/Courtesy of the Rogers School District)
A display is shown Jan. 16 at Lingle Middle School in Rogers. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)