Start with a Story

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The Start with a Story project delivers free books and family literacy activities to children who visit at the Santa Rita Jail and the Glenn Dyer Jail in Alameda County. This project seeks to break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy by using trained volunteers and library staff to read stories to children who are waiting to visit incarcerated family members, to provide literacy related games and activities, and to give each child a free book to take home and enjoy with their family. It has been a cost-effective way to strengthen ties between the library and a traditionally underserved population.