Columbia Township Library receives Valentine’s present

UNIONVILLE - Columbia Township Library received an early Valentine’s present when 88 children’s books, valued at $1,403.38, were delivered to its door on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The community of Unionville and the library raised $350 through donations to satisfy the conditions of The Libri Foundation grant, which was awarded to the library last May.

From May to October, Columbia Township Library solicited donations from the community. Donations were made at the annual book sale and money was added to a canister in the library with an explanation of The Libri Grant beside it. Some patrons wrote checks; some gave change from their pockets; many contributed each time they came into the library.

Columbia Township Library Director Kay Montei said, “People were very generous.”

With the $350 as seed money, The Libri Grant did a 2-for-1 matching grant, and contributed $700 for books. An additional $350, that the Foundation received from Hal Berenson and Laura Ackerman for math and science books, was added to that.

Montei chose the books from a pre-approved list of titles provided by the "Books for Children" grant. All of the books were recommended titles that had won awards and/or received starred reviews in well-known children’s book journals and lists.

Montei said, “The books we received from the Libri grant were quality literature and well-known classics. We would not have been able to afford them without the grant money.”

• ABOUT THE LIBRI FOUNDATION: The Libri Foundation is a nationwide non-profit organization which donates new, quality, hardcover children’s books to small, rural public libraries in the United States through its "Books for Children" program. The Foundation was established in 1989 for the sole purpose of helping rural libraries acquire new, quality, hardcover children’s books they could not otherwise afford to buy. Since October 1990, the Foundation has donated almost $5 million worth of new children’s books to more than 3,000 libraries in all 50 states.

• MOVIES AND POPCORN: Columbia Township Library, 6456 Center Street (M-24), Unionville, has scheduled free movies, with popcorn, at 1:30 p.m. on the following dates: Feb. 29; March 28; April 25; and May 30. For more information, call 989-674-2651. • PRE-SCHOOL STORY HOURS: Columbia Township Library, 6456 Center Street (M-24), Unionville, has scheduled Thursday Pre-School Story Hours at 11:30 a.m.: March 15, St. Patrick’s Day; April 19, Kites; and May 17, Horses.

(For more information, call 989- 674-2651. )