Vineland Public Libary Children's Department

Vineland Public Library Awarded New Jersey State Library Grant

Library will use $20,000 to continue literacy program

The New Jersey State Library recently announced that the Vineland Public Library is one of 11 recipients awarded a NJSL Literacy Grant. The State Library is awarding a total of $200,000 in grants to New Jersey libraries to develop literacy skills in local communities throughout the state.

Vineland Public Library will use its $20,000 grant to expand outreach to at-risk families with a program that encourages parents to read to their children and encourages children to read on their own. The library will expand the popular Read-Aloud collection, the multi-cultural book collection and collection of Spanish books. Also, the library will extend its connections to local agencies that serve at-risk children, particularly local child-care providers, schools, Head Start and day camps. The program will provide workshops for teen mothers at the local high school, and children who attend the programs will receive free books. The library's literacy program has been in place for 12 years.

In general, the NJSL is awarding the grants to assist public libraries in starting, strengthening or expanding programs in areas such as family literacy, financial literacy for immigrants or teens, English as a second language and English for speakers of other languages.

The funded programs may involve one-on-one or group literacy instruction, but the main factors the State Library considered in awarding the grants included pilot projects that demonstrate innovation and a local commitment to sustain funding for the project beyond the state grant period. The State Library sought projects which can serve as models for other libraries to replicate. It also gave preference to projects in which the local library is directly involved in running the program as opposed to merely contracting out the work to a third party, like a volunteer literacy group.

“The State Library has long recognized the important role public libraries play in helping New Jersey residents to get the help and training they need to improve their literacy skills. In a state with as diverse a population as New Jersey, the need to address literacy skills is even greater. Census figures show that more than twenty five percent of New Jersey’s population speak a language other than English at home. Clearly these literacy programs answer a need as New Jersey moves into the 21st century,” commented New Jersey State Librarian Norma E. Blake.

The New Jersey public libraries awarded literacy grants include: Bernardsville Public Library, Carteret Public Library, East Orange Public Library, Gloucester County Library, Jersey City Free Public Library, Kinnelon Public Library, Newark Public Library, Plainfield Public Library, Somerville Public Library, Vineland Public Library and Westwood Public Library.

These literacy programs are made possible in whole or in part by a Literacy Grant from the New Jersey State Library, an affiliate of Thomas Edison State College, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through its Grants to States Program.

If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail Head of Children's and Young Services Helen Cowan Margiotti.