RIMERSBURG — The Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library has been awarded the We the People Bookshelf on Becoming American from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in cooperation with the American Library Association.

This is a program to encourage young people to read and understand literature while exploring themes in American history.

It is a collection of 15 classic books on the theme of "Becoming American." They are:

n Kindergarten through third grade: "The Lotus Seed" by Sherry Garland; "Watch the Stars Come Out" by Riki Levinson; and "Grandfather's Journey" by Allen Say.

n Fourth through sixth grade: "Immigrant Kids" by Russell Freedman; "The People Could Fly: African Black Folktales" by Virginia Hamilton; "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving; "In the Year of the Boar" and "Jackie Robinson" by Betty Bao Lord.

n Seventh through eighth grade: "Rifles for Watie" by Harold Keith; "The Glory Field" by Walter Dean Myers; "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith; and "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep.

n Ninth through 12th grade: "Death Comes for the Archbishop" by Willa Cather; "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" edited by Louis Masur; "Barrio Boy" by Ernesto Galarza; and "Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie" by Ole Edvart Rolvaag.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, the books will be presented to the summer readers. Library directors Joanne Hosey and Ginger McGiffin will read from the books and the participants will receive bookmarks and American flag pins.

The library is one of 2,000 libraries in the United States to receive the grant of books.

For more information, contact the library at 814-473-3800.