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Bklyn. Libraries Provide Summer Activities To Nurture Young Minds
Those children eager to supplement their education over the summer can partake in 30-year-old national Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program that is offered at all branches of the Brooklyn Public Library. As a result, RIF has partnered with BPL, which claims over 16,000 children a month attend the program. Last year BPL reported it gave away over 138,000 books to children who enroll in it and can earn additional books in other ways. Ellen Halliday, the RIF Coordinator at the Flatlands Avenue branch, said, "Children sometimes can't believe the books are theirs to keep," said Halliday; "These (RIF) books are often the first they've ever owned." "It is so gratifying to see children excited about books," she added. "I love to see children helping each other choose a book by offering book reviews and opinions, or agreeing to swap books when they're done." Reading is one of several activities the RIF program offers. Children are also encouraged to partake in arts and crafts workshops. At the Mill Basin branch library Tuesday afternoon, toddlers and young children used their imagination and skills to create and decorate their own books, which were filled with their autobiographies. RIF is the largest and oldest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization that was created in 1966 by a Washington, D.C. schoolteacher. The Department of Education currently provides federal funding, along with private contributions, through the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program created in 1975. Children's book publishers, distributors and retail stores provide books of all kinds. For more information about the Reading Is Fundamental program, go to www.rif.org or www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.
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