Library's Funding Worries Go Up in Smoke
Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2000
Being linked to big tobacco can cause business stocks to crash
library will use the money to start a program geared toward readying young children and their parents for school by focusing on reading preparation. John Adams, OCPL's director, says that the library has ordered materials and should be able to begin the program by early winter. "We want to expose parents and kids to as many theories about reading and schools as we can get our hands on," he says, noting that the money will go toward the purchase of more picture and board books, pamphlets and books for parents, talks and conferences, and storytimes for preschoolers. 
The tax, which amounts to an additional 50 cents per box of cigarettes, raised over $17 million in less than one year for Orange County alone. The Orange County Children and Families Commission, which oversees the allocation of the tax, considered grant proposals from 132 applicants. Of the 46 recipients selected, OCPL is the only public library. In order to be eligible for funds, grants must address issues affecting children five years old and younger.--Yi Shun Lai
