Baton Rouge – The Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Program, a reading enrichment program of the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, provided 60 complete sets of LYRC books to 13 parish library systems: 30 sets of the 3-5 grade titles and 30 sets of the 6-8 grade titles. This donation was made possible through a generous donation from Capital One Bank.
State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton said, “LYRC is one of many programs that the State Library of Louisiana has developed where the primary goal is to encourage our children to read. This particular program, LYRC, fosters a love of reading among the children of Louisiana by giving them a voice in recognizing outstanding work in children’s literature.”
Founded in 1999, with the first award was presented in 2000. Participation in this program has climbed from 5,485 votes the first year to more than 29,000 students in 2009. LYRC is underwritten by Capital One Bank with additional support from Perma-Bound Books. Now entering its 11th year, the program continues to encourage Louisiana’s youth to read for pleasure.
The library systems that received the book sets are: Assumption, Audubon, Avoyelles, Bossier, Calcasieu, Grant, Jefferson, Livingston, New Orleans, Richland, St. James, Terrebonne and Vermillion. These public libraries submitted grant applications stating their intended strategies to partner with local schools to promote LYRC and literacy. Grant requests were evaluated for feasibility, organization and potential effectiveness. The State Library is pleased to have been able to offer this opportunity to Louisiana’s public libraries. It is our hope that this project will cultivate valuable relationships between public libraries and their local schools.
For complete details about LYRC, please visit the State Library’s website at www.state.lib.la.us.
PRESS RELEASE
September 22, 2010
Contact
Paulita Chartier
Communications Director
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-9713
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