Oklahoma ranks 48th in the nation for spending per pupil. Recent cuts further weaken schools’ capacity to develop intelligence and creativity. Lower incomes, transportation and language barriers negatively affect learning. Summer is a spending break but often results in learning loss — especially for poor. Pioneer’s librarians battle "summer slide" and work to supplement education year round. Sixty two percent of Oklahoma’s children qualify for free lunches. Rural schools struggle to introduce students to technologies. Six of PLS’s 11 libraries are rural. There are 50,117 English learners in Oklahoma schools — twenty six percent more than in 2010. Hispanic children make up 16.21 percent of Oklahoma’s students.

Spanning the education gap begins early with PLS’s Children’s Literacy Project. CLP removes language, poverty and transportation barriers by partnering with food banks and schools to send books home in food backpacks — Spanish when requested. Teachers help rural children can get special "MyCards" from the library and a book to keep. State-of-the art technologies can be taught in even rural communities when the PLS Maker Mobile travels the three counties. Noble schools and the public library pooled resources to provide at-risk second and third grade readers two months of summer school — June in the school and July at the library.

PLS anticipates that Spanish-speaking families using the early literacy giveaways will experience an increase in literacy skills and practices, and read to their children more, as English speaking families have. Owning a book encourages children to read — even in summer. Rural children who get a "MyCard" learn how to easily access library materials. Students who experience STEAM programs and are comfortable with Maker activities are better prepared for college, industry and creative endeavors. Noble schools will test reading levels of Summer Academy 2016 students in the fall to prove they’ve maintained, improved or slowed learning loss with the library’s help.