The City of Schuyler is working to promote children’s literacy by creating a community reading garden.
The city partnered with Nebraska Growing Readers, a nonprofit organization funded by the Nebraska Department of Education, to provide books for young children to promote early reading and social-emotional development.
Community members of Schuyler reached out to Nebraska Growing Readers Vice President Wendy Keele to set up book stands and create a community reading garden. Schuyler became Nebraska Growing Readers' first city project to promote early childhood literacy by providing books in places where they are not readily available.
“Schuyler is a perfect example, because they are about 75% Spanish speaking," Keele said. "And so even though most the books that are out there are written in English, not all of their families speak English. And so, we wanted to produce books about Schuyler for the people in Schuyler and have them see themselves in those books."
Audra Jedlicka, Director of the Schuyler Chamber of Commerce, said it's encouraging to see the kids excited about reading and that they are always looking forward to getting their hands on books.
Nebraska Growing Readers’ 12-person team worked to start writing books about the community. The team started by taking pictures of community members attending events that were catered toward children. The efforts produced books about Schuyler, for the children of Schuyler.
The books are free to community members and are located in the five book stands Nebraska Growing Readers built around the city. The town receives new books in these stands every month in both English and Spanish.
Greta Carlson, the Early Childhood Project Manager for Nebraska Growing Readers, said the main goal of this project is to get families reading together.
“The research says that reading to children, starting from birth, not just when they can read themselves, is still beneficial for their education and their learning," Carlson said. "It's great for working on secure attachment between you and your children. So, our goal is to provide access to free books so that that's not the barrier that keeps you from reading with your kids."
Nebraska Growing Readers was happy to see the town support this initiative. Chamber of Commerce officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at the laundromat book stand location.
“You know it is really gratifying to see a community like Schuyler really wrap around this whole thing and to have their chamber of commerce come out and do a ribbon cutting it just shows how the whole community was supporting it," Keele said.
Keele and Carlson said the organization plans to work with smaller communities in Omaha and encourages people to check out their website and online digital library.