Lincoln Rotary Club to install FREE Children's Library at Hope Grows Community Center today

[October 10, 2017] 

LINCOLN

Lincoln Rotary Club members are planning to install a Free Children’s Library at Hope Grows across the street from Ray White Park on Tuesday, October 10th at 9:30 am. The Rotary Club has partnered with the Lincoln Public Library Youth Services and with Hope Grows to bring about this project.

The library is a wooden box mounted on a post in the yard of the house at Hope Grows. It is intended simply to encourage children to read by providing a source of children’s books for the youngsters in this area of town. They may select a book to take home to read and when finished return it to the library and take another. From time to time some books will be replaced and new books added.

The book box was built and painted by Rotarians Dale Meier and Keith Leesman. Hannah Wilkerson of the Lincoln Public Library decorated the outside of the box with colorful illustrations. Melissa Oxborrow, Youth Services Director at the Lincoln Public Library reviewed the books donated by Rotary Club members, library employees and others.

Books for Kindergarten Kids is another project of Lincoln Rotary Club. Each September the local schools are contacted to determine the number of kindergarten students enrolled at each school. This year there were 194 students.

The schools participating are Lincoln Elementary District, Chester-East Lincoln, Carroll Catholic, West Lincoln-Broadwell, Zion Lutheran, and New Holland-Middletown.

A cash contribution is made to each school based on the number of students enrolled. The money is intended for the teacher in each class to purchase books for each child in the class. The children may then take the books home to read with their family. In some schools the PTO or other organization may match the amount allowing the children to have more books. The intent of this project is to promote literacy and to encourage children at an early age to find enjoyment in reading.

[Keith Leesman]