Thank you to everyone who came out this summer for our weekly KidoInfo Storytime + Art in the Park. Our 2016 season a huge success and we closed out the season with a very special Storytime with two guest readers who have been reading with us since we first launched this program, Alison Paul and Jen Corace.
The kids were also super excited about our surprise guest reader, Providence Police Department’s Major Tom Verdi.
We work hard to put on these free programs for kids because we know how important community reading programs are for children’s literacy. Research shows that many children experience learning loss during school summer breaks, and that children in low income families experience a greater learning loss than their higher income peers. In Providence, 40.5% of children live below the poverty level, and two-thirds of those children living in poverty have no books at home. By offering these types of outdoor experiences to our community, we hope to inspire a love of books, reading, and writing for all children in our city.
Through programs such as Storytime and Art in the Park, children receive direct contact with creators of books and stories, inspiring their own creativity.
Special thanks also to all the people and organizations who helped make this program possible, especially Anisa Raoof from KidoInfo and Ricky Katowicz, our Art-in-the-Parkist. Without these types of partnerships, we wouldn’t be able to turn our vision of helping inspire a love of reading into a reality.
Anisa Raoof, Program Director Jen Smith, Jen Corace, Alison Paul, Ricky Katowicz
We’re looking forward to making our 2017 season even better!
Learn more about our family programming and save the date for our special October Spooky Storytime happening on October 29th.
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