Dear Librarian,

Congratulations to everyone who helped Oklahoma win the national First Book contest. As a result of our efforts, the state will receive 50,000 new books to give to children at-risk for low literacy.

The First Book contest tallied more than 133,000 votes. More than 34,000 of those votes selected Oklahoma as the state to receive the windfall of books.

This contest provided a wonderful demonstration of what can happen when many organizations join together to share the gift of reading.

The big book giveaway is tentatively scheduled for September 20 in Oklahoma City.

Many of you have been curious about how the books will get into the hands of children. Eligible organizations throughout the state may apply to receive a portion of the books for giveaway to young readers. Eligibility requirements are:

• programs that predominantly serve children from low-income families; and,

• programs that do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or physical or mental disability.

Is your library eligible? Perhaps. Your library may be located in an area that predominantly serves low-income children, or you may have an early literacy program targeting these youngsters, or you may be aware of organizations in your community that would be eligible. First Book will make the determination of eligibility as well as the quantity of books to be distributed to qualifying organizations.

To be considered for participation, organizations must register at http://register.firstbook.org

The next step will be to fill out an application in order to receive free books.  Very soon, First Book will be forwarding a link to this application form to those who are registered. So, if you are interested, please register as soon as possible.

Once the online application process begins, selection of free book recipients will be made on a first come, first served basis.

Organizations approved to participate will need to have someone attend the Oklahoma City event on September 20 in order to pick up their free books.

Congratulations, again. We did it! I am so proud to be State Librarian of Oklahoma—where there has been this tremendous outpouring of support for children and literacy.

Sincerely,

Susan McVey, Director
Oklahoma Department of Libraries

We are the winning state for the FirstBook Contest!

This would not have been possible without the coordination and motivation of Leslie Gelders and her staff in the Literacy Office at ODL and for all those who voted.

Entities, including public libraries, can receive a share of these books by registering. A formal announcement on registering and the qualifications will be forthcoming.
And, see if you can spot Leslie on television and in print!

Ezra Jack Keats Minigrant Program For Public Schools and Public Libraries
Minigrant Award = $500 http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/programs/minigrant.html

Creative programs funded in the past have included:

- Ongoing pen-pal projects bringing disparate communities together,

- Multi-cultural portrait projects,

- Art projects culminating in art shows, murals, or quilts,

- Bookmaking,

- Creation and performance of puppet shows,

- Inter-generational journals.*

* These are examples…we welcome new ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/faq/index.html

The National Gardening Association has grants for kids who want to garden. As with the Captain Planet Grant in the previous post, this grant fits in well with the 2008 Summer Reading Program.

The Captain Planet Foundation Grant provides funding for a hands-on environmental education project. This is a good idea for the garden theme of the 2008 Summer Reading Program. Take a look.