Thu, Jan 08 2009
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Published November 29, 2008 11:17 pm - Getting books into kids’ hands is the goal On Wednesday I accompanied my supervisor, Marilyn Hinshaw, to give dictionaries to the third grade classes at Harris Jobe Elementary.
The giving of dictionaries to all third graders in Muskogee is a project of the Muskogee Rotary Club. Participating in this project was a great experience and I thank Rotary for making the dictionaries available. As we visited with the kids about the importance of books I was reminded that many kids in our community do not have what many of us take for granted, the pleasure of having even one book of their own. So I decided that this Christmas I wanted Muskogee Public Library to try to get books into the hands of as many kids as possible. I talked to the library's Early Literacy Coordinator to see how many books we had on hand to give away and I called Etter Nottingham of Volunteers of America to see if they would like to partner with the library in a Christmas Book Give-Away. As usual Etter was excited about giving books to kids. Volunteers of America has about 300 books to give away and the library has about 400 making a total of 700 books for kids. Beginning Thursday at 4 p.m., we will be giving books to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. who have a child or children who are pre-school through fourth grade and who can not afford to buy books. Our goal is that at least 700 children in Muskogee will get their own book for Christmas. We will give books away until we run out or the library closes for Christmas. (If there are any books not given away for Christmas they will be given at another time.) Volunteers of America has a grant which enables them to get books from Scholastic Book Company to give to kids. This grant makes books available for children who would not otherwise get books. Muskogee Public Library has been the recipient of book drives by Bank of Oklahoma, donations of books from Muskogee Noon Lions and books from First Book, a national organization that distributes books to children who don't have books. All of these books were given for distribution to kids who don't have books. Between the library and Volunteers of America many books have been given to kids in Muskogee during the last several years but there are still kids who do not have books. We in the library field know that having access to books is important but actually owning books is an even more important factor in school achievement. So, we at Muskogee Public Library have been working through our Early Literacy program to not only have books at the library for check-out but to give books away. 
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