We are gearing up in our Youth Department for our annual Kindergarten visits. Chemung County Library District offers all county kindergarten students an opportunity to receive a free library card during these visits, and we are grateful for the Friends of CCLD’s Kinderbook Committee for sponsoring these visits.
In our partnership with this Committee and the area schools, we are able to reach children and their parents and make them aware of our library services for kids and families. Our goal, to promote the joy of reading, is highlighted at these visits by acting out favorite stories for the kids and giving them a tour of our Children’s area and all that it offers: tons of books, computers, audio books, music CDs and movies. The children then receive their library cards as well as a bookmark.
The Kinderbook committee generously pays for the buses that bring the students, as well as incentives to bring the children and their families back to 
their local library. In observance of the 30th year of this initiative, we are offering a basket full of literacy goodies, the name will be drawn at each CCLD library at the end of the summer…entering is easy, any child who has come for a Kindergarten visit, and then returns with their family, to their local library will be allowed to enter their name in for this drawing.
We thank the Kinderbook committee for all of their hard work and their commitment to getting library cards into the hands of each kindergarten student. As a result of these campaigns, 80-85% of all Kindergarten children in Chemung County will become library card holders! We also couldn’t offer this without the cooperation from the Elmira, Elmira Heights, and the Horseheads School Districts Kindergarten teachers. We are fortunate to live in an area that values literacy and realizes the importance of public libraries in promoting literacy to our youngest patrons.
Janet Ackerman
Head of Youth Services
Steele Memorial Library, CCLD