This year, the Friends are raising funds for our newest initiative, BEE, Books Enrich Everyone. This program, designed by us and the first such project undertaken by a Friends of the Library organization, will distribute free books to at-risk children in Kershaw County ages 0 to 5. Through the Kershaw County First Steps program, the Friends will distribute four books a year to at-risk children in child-care centers in the county. The parents of the children will have four instructional sessions a year with teaching packets to teach parents to encourage childhood reading. In addition, each classroom for 3 year-olds will be given a durable CD player with headsets to allow toddlers to listen to their favorite books as often as they like.

Experts will also study the program with a view to implementing similar programs elsewhere in the state. The great advantage of the BEE project as designed is that it is simple to implement and is affordable even for small counties. Our program in Kershaw County is designed to reach almost 600 children and will cost only $10,000 a year. We plan to continue funding the program for at least five years.

We ask for your support to raise the funds for this exciting program. Our goal is to raise $10,000 in our fundraising drive this year. Any donations you make will be used for this program and to support additional Friends’ projects in our library system.