30K books arrive at EPCC’s Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community library to encourage family read time
EL PASO, Texas - More than 30,000 books will go to El Paso County families thanks to the partnership between the Molina Foundation and El Paso Community College's (EPCC) Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community Library.
The grant is part of the foundation's 2022 Families Learning Together - Book Buddies Initiative distributing 1.5 million books to nonprofits and community groups across the country.
EPCC welcomed a truckload with 30,437 new books valued at $250,000 at their warehouse. That's enough books to fill a bookshelf 1,500 long.
The Book Buddies program helps provide children and their families with at-home learning opportunities, encourages storytelling, develops classroom skills and develops a love of reading.
"We are privileged to receive this generous donation of books; giving these materials out empowers youth and their families," said Lorely Ambriz, head librarian. "This effort is in alignment with EPCC and the library's effort to help support the success of the youth," she added.
Children in poverty continue to show slower academic achievement than their peers. Studies have shown a connection between illiteracy and lack of social and economic progress.
