Colfax Public Library receives $5000 to relaunch 1000 books before kindergarten
GRANT AWARDED — The Colfax Public Library recently received a $5,000 grant from the Scot Miller Family Memorial Fund through the Women’s Giving Circle, a part of the Community Foundation of Dunn County. Pictured above from left to right, are: Sue Traxler, past chairwoman of the Community Foundation of Dunn County, who presented the grant award to Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, Colfax Librarian, and Jolene Albricht, Colfax youth librarian. —photo submitted
COLFAX— The Colfax Public Library was recently awarded $5000 from the Scot Miller Family Memorial Fund through the Women’s Giving Circle, a part of the Community Foundation of Dunn County. This award comes just in time for summer reading and will be used to update and re-start the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. This program encourages parent and child bonding through promoting reading to newborns, infants, and toddlers.
“We hope families take advantage of this opportunity by signing up for 1000 Books. This program has a proven history of helping kids get excited about reading. We are so thankful to the Scot Miller Family and the Women’s Giving Circle for giving us the financial boost that makes this possible,” says Library Director, Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt.
1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a simple and fun approach to establish early literacy skills with a challenge of reading 1000 books before kindergarten. Parents keep track of the books read and the child receives a free book after every 100 books, totaling up to 10 free books. This program has been very successful in the past and with this award the library hopes to supply free books to young children who participate for many years to come.
In an effort to keep the funds local and limit environmental impact, the new book titles were purchased from Dragon Tale Books, a local bookstore in Menomonie, and Bookshop.org, a climate neutral company that helps independent bookstores in ecommerce.
Colfax Public Library is supported by the Village of Colfax and Dunn County. Colfax Public Library’s mission is to be a welcoming place that promotes diversity and inclusion and encourages the love of reading in children, young adults, and adults. They offer assistance, reference, and access to technology and strive to provide a comfortable facility for studying and group activities. The library has been located at 613 Main St. in the Colfax Municipal Building for over 100 years.