Reaching out to all cultures
New children's books at Winooski Memorial Library

Kristen Fiocco | staff writer

The Winooski Memorial Library quietly rests on the bottom floor of the Champlain Mill. New multicultural books recently arrived courtesy of a grant from the Winnie Belle Learned Fund. Another 50 diversity books will land on the shelves from the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF).

Reading into it

The new children’s and young adult books from the Winnie Belle Learned Fund made their debut in August, says Amanda Perry, director of the Winooski Memorial Library.

Perry applied to the Winnie Belle Learned Fund, a foundation to support public libraries in Vermont, for a grant of $5,000. Once the library received it, she ordered an array of bilingual and multicultural children’s books, she says.

CLiF also plans to expand the library’s reservoir with 50 new titles worth roughly $1,500, says Duncan McDougall, executive director of CLiF, a foundation working to bring the written word to children at risk of growing up illiterate.

“The library is a wonderful resource to open many doors into their lives,” he says.

John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Winooski. Kristen Fiocco, photo

The library targets children of the English Language Learners (ELL) community at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Winooski. The children’s section of the library forged a connection with ELL, children’s librarian Kathleen Finn says.

“We encourage people to come by,” she says. “Many classes are brought down by ELL teachers.”

About 125 students from the elementary, middle, and high schools are learning English. The majority of foreign language speakers are the children at JFK Elementary, Finn says.

“We see a lot of immigrants,” Perry says. “There are always lots of kids. Many families resettled and moved here.”

The children of the ELL speak around 20 different languages, Perry says. Many of the new books examine a specific foreign country, its language, or religion.

“This is a chance for children to start learning about their community,” Finn says. “We want to have books that reflect their background.”

The power of books

On Nov. 7 the Winooski Memorial Library will receive an early holiday gift from CLiF. McDougall will visit ELL children at JFK Elementary to present 50 books to the library. Hundreds of extra books will await the children who attend, and each will receive three. McDougall will also entertain the children by reading stories to them in English, he says.

“I’m planning a talk about the power of books, reading, and writing,” McDougall says.

Children's librarian Kathleen Finn stands next to a table of new additions. Kristen Fiocco, photo

The Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program contacted CLiF to bring more English reading material to the refugees. CLiF responded by setting up 12 programs in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Programs were set up in Pittsfield as well. Children there enjoyed a similar show and also received about $2,000 worth of books, McDougall says.

“We are delighted to support the refugees,” McDougall says. “We reach out to kids with low literacy skills and who may not have been in school on a regular basis due to challenging circumstances. We want to help them as much as possible.”

Making donations

Dr. Burnett Rawson created the Winnie Belle Learned Fund to "help libraries of Vermont foster literacy, love of learning, critical analysis and intellectual exploration in their communities," according to a press release about their grant.  Perry used the money provided to order the new books in August, she says.

Many of the library's new books are geared towards children of the English Language Learners (ELL) community at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Winooski. Kristen Fiocco, photo

The Vermont Public Library Foundation oversees the Winnie Belle Learned Fund. Money rolls into the tax-exempt organization from private sources.

CLiF, on the other hand, takes the initiative to donate books directly. Although many of the books end up in children’s hands, CLiF recently spread its assistance to other groups, Finn says. A new program started to give reading material to prison inmates and homeless shelters.

As a nonprofit organization, CLiF does not receive any financial support from the state. The foundation relies on charity from individuals, companies and other foundations. One foundation is responsible for the gifts given to the Winooski Public Library, McDougall says.

“We receive sponsorship from the Citizens Bank Foundation,” he says. “It made a donation that was used to help the kids in Winooski.