Frank Fletcher Toyota's contributions to 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program to be honored

(From the Joplin Public Library)

Joplin Public Library and Economic Security Corporation will recognize the contribution a local business has made to Joplin’s early literacy community during an award ceremony at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 5.

Jim Adams, General Manager of Frank Fletcher Toyota, has impacted the lives of families in southwest Missouri by contributing to the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. This generous contribution provides incentives for families with children birth to kindergarten as they read their way through the goal of reading 1,000 books to their child(ren) before they enter Kindergarten. Families earn a free book when they have read 200 books to their child, earning up to five books per child.

Although the idea is simple, the rewards are priceless. To date, books have been read to children ages newborn through preschooler. Families are tracking the books they have read by using log sheets provided to them by the library, documenting them in a notebook, or by using a free mobile application that can be downloaded from the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten website, https://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/resources/

JPL has partnered with Economic Security Corporation of Southwest Area’s Early Head Start program to help meet the needs of families who may not have continuing access to reading material. Early Head Start home visitors rotate 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten book bags among their enrolled families, helping and encouraging families to read to their young children and log their efforts.

Families not enrolled in Early Head Start can get started at Joplin Public Library by asking about the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten project in the Rosemary Titus Reynolds Children's Library.They may also visit the website: https://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/resources/ for program information and resources.

This project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

For more information on this and other events at the Rosemary Titus Reynolds Children’s Library at Joplin Public Library, please contact Tammie Benham at 417-623-7953.

Since 1902, JPL has been fulfilling the information needs of citizens of Joplin and the surrounding community. JPL offers content to meet the informational, recreational, cultural enhancement, and continuing educational needs of the general public. Helping to meet the needs of very young children and their families, JPL has the distinction of being a Family Place Library, offering developmentally appropriate opportunities for play and early literacy development.

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