BookStart grants aim to put books into hands of children

Representatives from various organizations, clinics and schools gathered on Tuesday, June 23, not only to celebrate the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) BookStart program, but also to pick up their awarded books at the Business Incubator in Owatonna. 
The BookStart grants are awarded through a partnership between SMIF and Capstone Publishers. This year the two organizations awarded 10,000 books, a total value of $163,421, to organizations to provide literacy opportunities to young children and their families. 
“Reading should be fun, accessible and engaging, for both children and their caregivers. Capstone has been a great long-time partner with our BookStart program towards this goal,” said SMIF President and CEO Tim Penny in a press release. “We believe investing in our young children is a long-term strategy that will pay big dividends for our communities and businesses.”
Since the program’s inception, it has put around 80,000 books into the homes of children across southern Minnesota. This year, 28 organizations were selected to receive BookStart grants, some of which include: Owatonna Public Schools, specifically Wilson Elementary, Kasson-Mantorville Community Education, The Center Clinic in Dodge Center, Triton Public Schools also in Dodge Center, Rochester Public Schools and the Rochester Public Library. 
Organizations were selected based on the early literacy opportunities they provide for young children and their families. 
“We want to be among the organizations that are helping to distribute resources that allow you to do a really good job of getting these kids ready for kindergarten,” Penny said at the celebration. “Reading is fundamental; it’s a cliché, but it is very true.” 
Organizations applied for the grants back in March and were told the good news at the end of April, when applying organizations can request the number of books they need, as well as specific titles they are interested in. SMIF Early Childhood Director Teri Steckelberg estimates that each year they aim for around 25 to 30 different titles, some in English and some in Spanish.
The main goal of the program is to get books into the hands of children. 
“One of our major focus areas at SMIF is early childhood; so this is just another way for us to be putting books into the hands of children,” Steckelberg said. “There is a lot of research around how important literacy is for kids. They need to be reading well by the third grade in order to be able to read to learn after that. When parents are reading with their kids, there is also a bonding piece that happens.” 
After representatives from each organization went around the room to share their plans with the books and bounce ideas off each other, they took a trip to the Owatonna Business Incubator where they picked up boxes and boxes of books.