Columbus Metropolitan Library Launches Linden-Area Ready to Read Corps and Unveils New Bookmobile
Columbus Metropolitan Library officially launched its second Ready to Read Corps. The Ready to Read Corps is a first-of-its-kind initiative that takes the library into communities to help parents learn to prepare their children for kindergarten.

COLUMBUS, OH, October 16, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Columbus Metropolitan Library officially launched its second Ready to Read Corps at a special event held at the Linden Branch on Oct. 14 at 9:30 a.m. The Ready to Read Corps is a first-of-its-kind initiative that takes CML's Ready to Read program, based on Public Library Association's national initiative Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library, out of the library and into communities to help parents and caregivers learn to prepare their children for kindergarten.

"We are thrilled to expand this service to our communities who are in the greatest need of assistance," said Columbus Metropolitan Library Executive Director Patrick Losinski. "In Columbus, 40 percent of children who enter kindergarten are unprepared and start school already behind. Columbus Metropolitan Library believes libraries are uniquely qualified to address the early literacy crisis in the United States. We are truly grateful to the Nationwide Insurance Foundation for funding this initiative which is vital to the future success of this program in central Ohio."

Losinski's point made a visual impact when CML unveiled its new bookmobile, also funded with dollars donated by the Nationwide Insurance Foundation. The design of the new bookmobile, which is smaller than the other two in CML's fleet, was specifically chosen so that it could travel the narrower streets in neighborhoods.

"This new bookmobile is another valuable tool for our outreach programs that serve children in at-risk communities," Losinski said. "We are confident that this new bookmobile and future Ready to Read Corps will be welcomed by the families in the community and that the children will benefit greatly from these services."

The first Ready to Ready Corps was launched in 2009 in the Parsons Avenue and Weinland Park Community in Columbus. The next Ready to Read Corps will begin operating in the Northland area of Columbus within the next few months. CML is working to acquire funding for three more communities in central Ohio: Hilltop, Whitehall and Groveport.

For more information, visit www.columbuslibrary.org or www.columbuslibrary.org/readytoreadcorps.

CONTACT: Kim Snell, Media Relations
TELEPHONE: (614) 849-1046 or 769-8505
EMAIL: KSNELL@columbuslibrary.org

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Julie Theado
Columbus Metropolitan Library
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