Reading Matters: New Reading Initiatives at Westwood Library

Westwood Public Library is excited to announce two ongoing reading challenges found on their Beanstack app. Reading matters and we believe books have the power to help us make sense of the world around us. Read Woke is a reading challenge designed for Kindergarteners to adults and is about love, inclusion, and community. It means learning about others so that you can treat people with the respect and dignity that they deserve no matter their religion, race, creed, or color. Read Woke was created by School librarian Cicely Lewis and seeks to encourage people to read widely and read diversely. Read Woke challenge begins November 1st 2020. Let's get ready to read and share books that amplify diverse voices!
Westwood Public Library and Westwood Coordinated Family & Community Engagement Program/Early Childhood Council also invite families to join the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program! The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program is a nationwide challenge that encourages parents and caregivers to regularly read aloud to their children. By reading just one book a night, families can reach the 1,000-book goal in three years and provide their children essential early literacy skills. Reading to children from an early age can help close the vocabulary gap and prepare children to enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed. Most importantly, sharing books with children promotes a lifelong love of books and reading.
The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program is available to all families with children between the ages of birth and five years. Each registrant will receive a book and reusable bag to get started. This program is sponsored by the Friends of Westwood Library and the Westwood Early Childhood Council.
LITTLE FREE DIVERSE LIBRARIES SUPPORT READING CHALLENGES
Looking for books for the reading challenge? Aside from the public library where librarians are excited to pick books for you to read, Early Childhood will also be encouraging members of the community to utilize Westwood’s Little Free Libraries that are spread across town. Westwood CFCE/Early Childhood Council and the library are hoping to turn Westwood’s Little Free Libraries into Little Free Diverse Libraries. We believe everyone should be able to see themselves in the pages of a book. We also know that books can be a window into experiences that are different from our own. By reading diverse books, we can increase understanding, empathy, and inclusion. We would like to add and keep the exchange of diverse books flowing for readers of all ages (from birth to adult). Once you have enjoyed reading a book please consider donating it to the Little Free Libraries across town.
Join Westwood residents by supporting these exciting initiatives that will help foster a love of reading in our children and start conversations that bring about change. If interested in donating diverse books or want to know more about this project please contact Janet Lucey at the CFCE Early Childhood Office (781) 461-9548 or Lizzy McGovern, Head of Children’s Services at Westwood Library at 781-320-1042.