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Read to Succeed Buffalo launches book delivery program

Stack of books
WBFO News photo by Eileen Buckley
Stack of books

Read to Succeed Buffalo (RTSB) is bringing books directly in the hands of young children on the City’s East Side. 

With the help of a Buffalo Rotary Foundation grant, RTSB was able to bring the Dolly Patron’s Imagination Library to families with young children.

The books are going to families who don’t have access to books at home and are struggling to make ends meet during tough economic times.

The Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides a new, age appropriate book every month to every child under the age of five in Buffalo’s 14215 zip code.  This gives the child access to their own home library and a chance to develop literacy skills and a love of reading right from birth. 

Children who are eligible registered for the program received their first book.  The Little Engine that Could, at a story time event held at the RTSB offices Saturday, officially kicking off the program in Buffalo.
 

“We are thrilled to have the support of the Rotary Club of Buffalo and its charitable foundation.  Their financial support will translate into the gift of reading for thousands of children who may otherwise not have a book of their own – none-the-less an age appropriate book that will help build their literacy skills every month!  Imagine a toddler’s anticipation as they await their very own book, with their name on it, arriving in the mail each month and their excitement about reading and sharing that new story with a parent, older sibling or grandparent. We have no doubt that The Imagination Library will help young children learn to love books and help families make literacy a priority in their homes,”  said Anne Ryan, executive director of RTSB.

The Rotary Club of Buffalo has announced a $60,000 donation over a three year period that will help RTSB fund a program that sends an age appropriate book every month to a registered child until his fifth birthday. 

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Librarywill be targeted to children living in zip code 14215 on Buffalo’s East side – the RTSB Literacy Zone.  Any child from birth through age five who resides in the zip code is eligible to register and participate in the program.