October 17, 2009
Saturday

Ketchikan, Alaska - First Book Southeast Alaska Chair Charlotte Gloverd announced that First Book Southeast recently received a grant of $500 from the Juneau Community Foundation and the Machamer Charitable Fund to provide general support for book grants to community organizations in Southeast Alaska.

First Book-Southeast Alaska is part of First Book's national network of volunteer led Advisory Boards who provide new books to children in need in communities across the country. First Book-Southeast Alaska works to promote and facilitate the distribution of new books to literacy programs in our region.

Access to books is essential to reading development. However, 60 percent of low-income families have no books for children in their homes. By providing children from low-income homes books they can take home and keep, First Book targets the only variable that correlates significantly with reading scores- the number of books in the home.

Glover also announced that First Book Southeast is now accepting grant applications for the 2009-2010 school year and summer season.

Community organizations that work with low-income children and can incorporate reading into their programs are invited to apply. Past grant recipients have included preschools, daycares, Head Start programs, mentoring programs and after school programs.

First Book Southeast Alaska has been distributing books to programs serving low-income children since April of 2006. Call Charlotte Glover at 225-0370 for more information or to request a grant application. Grant applications are also available at the children's desk at the Ketchikan Public Library.

Source of News:

First Book
www.firstbook.org

 

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Ketchikan, Alaska