Outreach Program Promotes Literacy for Foster Children
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By Lynn Blumenstein -- School Library Journal, 9/8/2008 2:05:00 PM
Ocean County Library (OCL), in Toms River, NJ, has launched a new outreach effort aimed at children and teens placed in foster care.
Called the Sparks’ (after the library mascot) B.F.F. (best friends forever) Reading Club, the countywide program hopes to encourage children and teens to visit the library. The program supports OCL’s partnership with two Ocean County regional offices of the State of New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).
Sparks’ B.F.F. Reading Club will provide children and teens placed in foster care with the opportunity to select several new books, stationery supplies, and a backpack from a collection housed at each of the two county offices.
Sparks will visit reading club participants at future Ocean County foster family events. Funding for the program is provided by the Friends of the Toms River Library. Initially, more than 350 books have been provided to the two local DYFS resource offices. S.A.I.L. (Service and Achievement in the Library) teens helped sort, label, and prepare the books for distribution. Adult volunteers oversee the age-appropriateness of each book.
“If we can help children and teens enjoy reading by providing them with a few good books to keep permanently, then this program is a success,” says OCL director Elaine McConnell.
