Local library now offers Ferst Readers program
Calhoun- Gordon County Library signed up children on Monday, Dec 4, in the Ferst Readers program. Mayor Jimmy Palmer and County Administrator Jim Ledbetter signed a proclamation for Ferst Foundation and in attendance were Representative John Meadows, Jim Gentry, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, CGCL, Darla Chambliss, Director North Georgia Regional Library, Eddie Peterson, City of Calhoun Administrator, Ed Weldon, Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, CGCL and Debbie Ross, Regional Community Action Team Coordinator.
Ferst Readers is a program from the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy. Debbie Ross, Regional Community Action Team Coordinator, has been bringing members of our community together to make this dream a reality.
Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy is a public 501 ( c) 3 nonprofit with the mission to provide books for local communities to prepare children, beginning at birth, for reading and learning success. Children registered for the FFCL literacy program receive a developmentallyappropriate book, with parenting resources, mailed to them at home every month until their fifth birthday.
The impact is: Kindergarten readiness assessment scores rise significantly- in some cases as much as double; higher post- test gains for 1st grade students who were Ferst readers; school- wide standardized reading scores increase by several percentage points each year as FFCL graduates progress through the school system and an increased awareness of the importance of developing early literacy skills - in the home, and throughout the community.
Why Gordon County? There are over 3700 children in Gordon County eligible to receive the books: Sixty- seven percent of students qualify for free or reduced meals; twenty- seven percent of those ages 25 and older have not graduated high school; and 26 percent of those ages five and under live below the poverty level.
If you are interested in finding out more about Ferst Readers please call Calhoun-Gordon County Library at 706- 624- 1456. You can make a difference in a child’s life during this giving holiday season. As little as $ 36 will provide 12 books for one child for one year!