"The single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." from Becoming a Nation of Readers, a 1985 report by the Commission on Reading.
This is still true 23 years later. The best way for reading aloud to children is a parent reading to a child.
The Cooperative has received, on behalf of the libraries a grant funded by the Florida State Legislature for 2008. For Reading Out Loud will purchase audio materials for children in the three counties.
This grant program, Community Libraries in Caring,(CLIC), will allow the libraries to purchase additional audio materials for children. If you haven't already seen a display in the libraries of these new audio materials, you will soon.
While audiobooks are not the exact same thing as reading aloud in person, there are enough similarities to make this an adjunct to in-person reading aloud.
And we've partnered with the Rotary Clubs in each county. Each Rotary club donated additional money to supplement the grant award for each county. March was Literacy Month in Rotary and literacy is a special project of Rotary clubs worldwide.
A big thank you to local Rotary clubs and the Florida State Legislature.
