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| Let’s Read Together! |
| Wednesday, May 7, 2003 12:34:32 PM - Middletown Ohio |
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LET’S READ TOGETHER PROGRAM JOINS WITH MIDDLETOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY
A community group has been giving “birthday books” to children from birth to age five for over two years. The group, a sub-committee of the Middletown City School District’s Business/Education/Community Collaborative, is attempting to help children come to Kindergarten ready to learn. Statistics show that a large part of that early preparation is exposure to books and reading. To help children learn to enjoy books and reading, each year, during the child’s birth month, the group gives a free age-appropriate book to each child enrolled in the program. Books are purchased through donations from area individuals, businesses and organizations.
Currently there are 1,700 enrolled in the program. It is expected that a total of nearly 3,000 could eventually be enrolled.
The group gives a new book to each baby born at Middletown Regional Hospital and then enrolls children who live within the boundaries of the Middletown City School District regardless of where they may eventually attend school in the program which gives a new book each year, up to age five to each enrolled child.
The group had been mailing books to each enrolled child during their birthday month. With the new arrangement collaborating with Middletown Public Library, the children will now receive a post card directing them to ask an adult to take them and their “birthday postcard” to the Children’s Room of the library at 125 S Broad Street, to claim their birthday gift.
Library director Doug Bean and library personnel have served on the committee from its beginning and have assisted in selecting the books to be purchased throughout the program as well as providing bookmarks to include with the “birthday books.” With the new arrangement, the library personnel will give the books to those who present the postcard. Books will be prepared and delivered to the library each month by the Let’s Read Together committee.
According to Library Director Doug Bean and Ann Mort, chairperson of the Let’s Read Together Committee, the new arrangement to put the free books in the hands of the children is a positive change for both the library and the committee. There will be a considerable cost saving in postage and packaging the books, often doubled by the cost of return postage from those books not deliverable by the post office when families move. Additionally, the new arrangement is a positive when it brings families into the library where thousands of other books are available to be borrowed at no cost.
Children enrolled in the Let’s Read Together program with May birthdays will be the first to receive the postcard notice. Families who have not enrolled their young children in the program may do so by sending Parent first and last name, address, phone and/or email along with each child’s first and last name, birth month and birth year to: Let’s Read Together, c/o Middletown City Schools Department of Instruction, 1515 Girard Ave, Middletown, OH 45044, or by calling 420-4656 or email to letsreadtogether@mcsd.k12.oh.us . Only children under five who live within the Middletown City District boundaries are included in the program.
Learn to Read – Zero to nine
Read to Learn – Your whole lifetime. |
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