The Mission Library Family Reading Center had a party last week! We were celebrating the Migrant Education portion of the Literacy Outreach team. This is a great program to help the children of migrant workers keep up their reading and language skills while they’re not in school. Not to mention that a party is always fun.
We had 55 children and teens and 31 parents come to the celebration, along City Librarian Hilary Keith and Library Board of Trustees member Kathy Watanabe. The children and teens celebrated by:
- made rubber band and stick books,
- took photos of themselves at the photo both,
- ate dinner, and
- danced and sang with musician Sean Mendelson.
“Thank you for your help. The library is a huge tool for our children’s education.” -Blanca
We also distributed book bags filled with school supplies donated by Santa Clara Library patrons that were much appreciated by the families.
“The programs we have had in the library have been very good. Some of the favorite ones have been the e-books, telling stories. They are very fun and we learn a lot…. Thank you and keep bringing more programs to us.” – unsigned
In all, 109 children and teens kept up their literacy skills by participating in the program. They all received either a gift book of their choice or Barnes & Noble gift card, a reading certificate, and coupons from local restaurants.
The Foundation & Friends received a 50 Fund Re(a)d Zone Grant from the Super Bowl 50 committee worth $15,000. This grant fully funded the Migrant Education portion of Santa Clara City Library’s Literacy Outreach program. With this money we were able to buy books, gift certificates to Barnes & Noble, and two AnyBook Reader Pens. (These are great devices that allow a book to be read out loud. A librarian or volunteer will record a book onto the pen, page by page. Then, stickers are put on the pages of the book. When the reader touches the AnyBook Reader Pen to the sticker, the pen will play the recording for that page, “reading” the book to the child. This is a great way to help anyone develop their literacy skills.)