Hartford, CT – The CT State Library is pleased to announce awards in the amount $44,000 to 24 Connecticut public libraries for the inaugural year of the Summer Enrichment Grant.
Launched in January 2022, the purpose of the Summer Enrichment Grant is to empower public libraries to enhance their 2022 Summer Reading Programs with additional enrichment opportunities for their public by providing library-led programs and activities that spark creativity and productivity, engage individuals, and benefit their communities.
In its first year, the CT State Library accepted 24 Summer Enrichment Grant applications and awarded grants in amounts ranging from $300-$2,000 per library. These grants will support summer activities that are outcome oriented, engage the community, and promote active learning experiences that are positive, experiential, educational, and fun.
We congratulate the following CT public libraries, and their summer reading programs:
- Beacon Falls Public Library – Beacon Falls Summer Reading Program
- James Blackstone Memorial Library (Branford) – StoryWalk® on Main
- Brookfield Public Library – Playful Engineers Traveling MakerSpace Residency
- Burlington Public Library – Bringing the Library to Foote Road Summer Camp
- Henry Carter Hull Library (Clinton) – S.T.E.A.M. Stations
- Cragin Memorial Library (Colchester) – Empowering Colchester: Mindfulness and Social Emotional Learning for Children, Families, and Adult Leaders
- Durham Public Library – A Library off the Beaten Path
- Library Association of Warehouse Point (East Windsor) – 3Ds for Teens: Discuss, Design, Draw
- Hall Memorial Library (Ellington) – Expanding and Promoting the Library of Things
- Essex Library Association – Summer Reading 2022
- Granby Public Library – Trail Map Challenge
- Killingworth Library – STEM/STEAM with Pirates!
- Jonathan Trumbull Library (Lebanon) – Summer Reading Habits
- Middlebury Public Library – Fit345
- Russell Library (Middletown) – Summer Long Play Partnerships
- Raymond Library (Montville) – Reading Garden
- Preston Public Library – Take on Technology for Girls
- Mark Twain Library (Redding) – Robots & Androids & Drones, Oh My!
- Voluntown Public Library – SRP 2022
- Wallingford Public Library – Summer Buddies
- Silas Bronson Library (Waterbury) – STREAM you Summer Learning with “Ocean of Possibilities”
- Westbrook Public Library – Baking Buddies
- Weston Public Library – Beyond the Beaten Path with White Memorial Conservation
- Willimantic Public Library (Windham) – Exploring the Unknown
“We are pleased to be able to offer this Library Services & Technology Act federally funded enrichment grant designed to empower CT libraries to encourage and instill lifelong reading skills,” shared Dawn La Valle, Director of the Division of Library Development. “Most importantly, this supports the introduction of children, young adults, and families to the treasure that is their local public library and to the love of that magical journey of reading a good book.”
“In 2021 we redesigned our Summer Reading Report to be an outcome based, community impact model,” shared Kymberlee Powe, Children and Young Adult Consultant. “To align with this new focus and encourage libraries to move beyond counting books and pages, we wanted to offer support for libraries to design creative opportunities for all ages summer reading engagement, thus the Summer Reading Enrichment Grant.”
For more information contact Ashley Sklar at ashley.sklar@ct.gov or by phone (860) 704-2222