The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

18 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 8, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Many ways to support the Oakville library T he year 2007 is fastapproaching, and although the Oakville Public Library receives its base funding from municipal tax dollars, community support is absolutely critical to continue offering programs and services for the upcoming year. The programs and services listed below are just some of the things that are made possible through donations and continue to require funding in order to run next year. The library welcomes and encourages your donation in person, by phone, fax or online. · Help get Every Child Ready to Read® in Oakville -- Research has shown that children who haven't experienced or explored early literacy skills at a young age will struggle when learning to read, affecting them for the rest of their lives. The Oakville Public Library's Every Child Ready To Read® program, launched this fall, is designed to make sure that the over 10,000 children in Oakville have a chance to develop early literacy skills. As a community we can work together to ensure every child in Oakville is ready to read and learn, through avenues such as our newly-developed Parent Guide, which outlines the Every Child Ready to Read® program (available at the library and on our web site), sending trained library staff into home daycares to teach daycare providers how to nurture reading skills, and maintaining the library's Book Nooks which are located throughout the community. · Home Daycare Outreach Program -- Children in home-run daycares get excited when Sue from the library arrives and has brought with her, a kit filled with books, puppets and crafts to share. One minute they're listening to the The Barnyard Song story and the next, they're singing Old McDonald Had a Farm. They can't wait to get home and show their parents what they've learned. This program, called Book Play, is just one of the many early childhood literacy programs funded by donations. It is designed to give children in home-run daycares the rich literacy experience that research shows is critical to their development, by providing story times, mini-collections and caregiver training to private licensed home daycares. More than 100 children will experience the magic of library literacy programs and over 20 caregivers will be trained to continue the magic long after the library visits end. Here's what it means to Caregivers: "I am a caregiver without a car and the Book Play program brings the library to the children." "This program is very helpful for caregivers who have several young children and do not drive with them." · The power of summer reading in Oakville -- Last year, more than 4,371 Oakville children read a total of 27,146 books throughout the summer. With funding, the library is able to hire summer students at each branch to engage children and help them reach their reading goals. Not only will thousands of children benefit from this program, but many job opportunities are created for Oakville's youth. · Teen Book Clubs ­ The library's vibrant, dynamic teen book club is always filled to capacity. Teens eagerly participate in session after session because the club is all about them: their interests, needs, social habits and styles. Books bring it all together. As one of our participants stated, "It's a great way to meet people and freely discuss your opinions on books and their subject matter." The library has established specific programs and services for youth in order to raise awareness of the vast number of free resources available, such as Youth Online, book clubs, an annual writing contest, and poetry writing workshops. · Talking Books are a life saver-- This is just one of the many comments that we've received from our 230 special need patrons about our talking books collection. For those who are visually impaired, this service is critical to their quality of life: "What would replace reading - I have loved to read all my life - I need books and with the talking books that need is still being met." "I can keep up with the latest authors and best-sellers and discuss them with friends who can still read print." · Totes: For Famous Quotes and Research Notes -- These tote bags make great gifts! Wrap up your holiday shopping with sturdy, black and red nylon totes which feature the Oakville Public Library logo and have a gusseted bottom, an inside zippered pocket, outside pocket and 2 mesh side pockets, to hold almost anything. Proceeds from the sale of these bags help support many library programs. Tote bags are $12 each, plus tax. When you support the library, the library supports your need for learning and leisure. One regular library user wrote, "I can state categorically that my life-long learning needs and goals would not be met if Oakville did not have such an excellent library system." To begin your contribution to the library, contact Kate Palmer, Development Officer at 905-8152028. You can also donate online, at www.opl.on.ca/SupportUs.php. -- Submitted by the Oakville Public Library