Ready to Read is a “Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL) outreach program that encourages parents and caregivers to share books with children from birth to five years of age.”
Every year, they put on Party in the Park, a celebration of early childhood literacy. Community members and library staff dress as storybook characters and read to young children from all over Kalamazoo County.
Each child that attended this year received an early literacy bag, which included a toolkit called Let’s Talk About Kindness, information about KPL’s summer reading program, a book and a healthy snack. Early literacy bags were also delivered to children across Kalamazoo County who weren’t able to attend.
Jill Lansky, Youth Literacy Specialist at KPL, estimated that between the event at Bronson Park and the literacy bag drop off, they will have served roughly 3,000 children.
Visit kpl.gov for more information.
