The Bienville Parish Library is very proud to congratulate Ms. Everly Kate McGill of Castor, Louisiana. Everly Kate, or as she is best known at her home library, as “EK”, was the first to complete the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program. Everly and her parents, Robert and Amy McGill, are incredibly supportive patrons of the Castor Branch. They began the program many months ago and reached the goal of 1,000 books read on September 3, 2021. As Everly’s smile indicates, she is proud of her achievement! There was a grand celebration with balloons and pictures, and a gift bag of goodies to mark the occasion.

Everly and her family have set the bar high and now other children and their parents are well on their way to reaching their individual milestones of 200 and 300 books and it won’t take them long to reach their 1000 books!

The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program is based on the very familiar summer reading program format and encourages and rewards reading with fun incentives to keep going until they reach the 1,000 book goal. The program encourages parents of children from birth to 5 years to sign up for and begin reading! Based on solid evidence from research that finds that the more children hear books read to them, the more prepared they will be when they reach kindergarten.

The Benefits are Lifelong!

• Instills the love of reading that lasts a lifetime!
• Fosters a positive connection to the library for families and children.
• Reinforces parents’ role as their child’s first and best teachers.
• Creates a network of families and children that are committed to literacy and education.

The Bienville Parish Library has the program available at all locations and has made it super easy to get started! Parents that are interested in beginning the program check with their librarian. All the materials to get started are available at your neighborhood Bienville Parish Library. There are reading logs available, and with every 100-book milestone, they have their picture taken and receive a small treat to make the occasion special.

Thousand Books? That’s a Lot!

Actually, it doesn’t take as long as you might think! If you read one book at bedtime for three years that’s 1,095 books. If you read three books a day that’s 1,095 books in one year! If they attend a Storytime, or watch the Storytime on the Bienville Parish Library YouTube channel, that counts! If a child LOVES a particular book and you read it more than once, it counts! You could read a “Pinkalicious” book ten times and it counts! Every book, no matter how many times you read it to your child, it counts toward your 1000 books! You’ll reach your 1,000 books and exceed that number in no time – and your little one will be ready for Kindergarten!

To find out more about how you can get started with the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten”, visit your neighborhood Bienville Parish Library and ask your librarian for all the materials to get going.

• Arcadia Main Library
  2768 Maple Street
  Arcadia, LA 71001
  318-263-7410
  Hours
  Monday – Friday 8:15am—6:00pm
  Saturday 8:15am—12:00pm
• Castor Branch
  1955 Hwy. 507
  Castor, LA 71016
  318–544-8451
  Hours
  Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:15am—5:00pm
  Saturday 8:15am—12:00pm
• Ringgold Branch
  2078 Hall Street
  Ringgold, LA 71068
  318-894-9770
  Hours
  Monday – Friday 8:15am—5:00pm
  Saturday 8:15am—12:00pm
• Saline Branch
  1434 Fourth Street
  Saline, LA 71070
  318-576-8990
  Hours
  Monday – Friday 8:15am—5:00pm
  Saturday 8:15am—12:00pm

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