Hi Pam,

I’ve donated three books to the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. I wanted to “pay it forward” as we were one of the lucky recipients of your charity in 2008!

Just a little update:

Children’s Institute’s library is still going strong and we have a thriving program despite our small space. Last year we started a summer reading program “Camp Read-a-lot” that drew more newcomers to the library who were excited to see the “cool” titles we provided. As you may remember, we are in Koreatown in Los Angeles where there isn’t a public library nearby. In addition, with the LA Public Library cutting hours, we are becoming even more important to our local kids. We’ve heard reports that kids are being turned away from the nearby Public Library because the parents don’t have a California Driver’s License. Many of the local residents, despite living in “Koreatown”, are actually immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Some are legal, but some aren’t. Regardless, many of our clients have avoided approaching the public libraries. As news spread of our improving library collection, we have continued to receive new community customers every week. This fall our agency hopes to open up a new site at Temple and Alvarado where we will have a dedicated library space to serve the community in Historic Filippinotown. I’m excited to be able to stock a brand new library but we will probably need more books (hard to imagine, but true!). Now that our kids have become aware of the excellent selection at our current library, more and more reluctant readers are discovering our library and actively asking for new titles. It’s exciting to see kids get involved with the library. You and your team and all of the donors from 2008 are big parts of making that happen. Thank you again for all the work that you do to spread literacy to our hardest hit communities. It is very much appreciated!

Fondly,
Alicia Fox
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Institute, Inc.