New programs at the Columbia-Marion County Public Library begin before birth and are designed to promote literacy.
“We received a grant in partnership with the schools for a womb literacy program,” Director Ryda Worthy said. “Lisa White with the Columbia School District helped us to obtain the funds. It’s much bigger than we usually get. It’s a three-year grant and it was a lot of work to obtain.”
The program, titled “Read to the Bump,” is a project aimed at providing early literacy resources to expectant and new parents to increase awareness that reading to a baby before birth is critical to their growth and well-being. The program consists of free early literacy packages for each family, a 100 Books Before Birth reading promotion, and speakers and special programs.
The program and several others are funded by an X-Tream 21st CCLC Grant. The grant is also helping the Columbia-Marion County Public Library to establish a Family Resource Room. The library is hosting an open house from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on May 5. The Resource Room will be open to families Monday through Saturday. It provides families with educational manipulatives that they can borrow to use in their homes to prepare their children for the transition to school.
“We’re working on family engagement at the library,” Worthy said. “We will also have some family workshops this summer. The Resource Room will be a big part of this. People can come visit us to find out more. The Friends of the Library will be helping us and have a table set up at the event.”
Those with children who attend the May 5 open house will also receive an added surprise.
“We received a large donation of brand new shoes from Tom’s Corporation,” Worthy said. “We’re hopeful that it is a big draw. The shoes are all one style, but a variety of sizes from toddler to school-aged children. They’ll be available as long as supplies last.”
Another program funded by the X-Tream grant is the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program.
“It is a planned reading program targeting children from birth to 5-years old,” Worthy said. “Participating parents will receive an informational folder containing a reading record and will be encouraged to read to their children. Each reading record holds 100 books, and families can return the completed reading record to the library to claim a free book for their families’ personal home library.”
All of the programs that have recently begun are not just for children, however.
“We also kicked off our Read Everywhere Assisted Delivery (READ), which is a free outreach service open to individuals who are physically unable to visit the library,” Worthy said. “READ began on April 1. We’re registering people now and also looking for volunteers to deliver books for the program.”
Qualified applicants can receive five library items (books and audio books) for up to four weeks at a time. Delivery of the items is done by a team of library volunteers coordinated by the Friends of the Library.
“We’ve already have someone contact us on behalf of a family member,” Worthy said.
To inquire about the READ delivery program, contact Janet Minor at the library at (601) 736-5516.
“We’re getting the word out,” Worthy said. “We would love to see the program grow. We’re also busy planning for the upcoming Summer Reading Program. It will kick off around June 5. The theme is ‘Libraries Rock.’ It should be a lot of fun. We’ve been busy here, including packing up bags with goodies for the womb literacy program.”
Pictured Above: A variety of new programs and many other activities are planned at the Columbia-Marion County Public Library.
