COUDERSPORT — Coudersport Public Library has been named a recipient of a Pilcrow Foundation Children’s Book Project Grant.
Headquartered in Oregon, the Pilcrow Foundation provides new, quality, hardcover children’s books to rural libraries. Libraries that are awarded the grants provide a $400 local match and receive a total of $1,200 in children’s books for their permanent collections.
According to the foundation, Coudersport Library’s award was sponsored through a donation from Catharine E. Maxey of Pennsylvania. Teri McDowell, director of the Coudersport Library, noted that in addition to the initial grant of 75 books, the staff was delighted to learn that the library would receive an additional $400 in math and science books, through a donation from Hal Berenson and Laura Ackerman of Colorado.
“This gives us a total of $1,600 in new books — 99 books in all — geared to ages preschool through junior high,” McDowell noted.
The director said that with today’s tight budgets, maintaining an up-to-date collection while keeping the doors open is always a challenge. “We believe that partnerships between not-for-profits and the community are crucial, and these new acquisitions demonstrate a wonderful partnership between our local donors whose contributions helped us to achieve the required match, and individuals from out of the area who believe strongly in the important role libraries play in the education of our children,” she remarked.
McDowell said the new titles are being released incrementally, and are expected to heighten children’s interest in the library’s Summer Reading program, for which signups will begin in early May.
