There’s a new team in town! The Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library have welcomed Lori Kissinger and Aerin LeDuc-Gummeson to the newly created Community Outreach team. The team, working with longtime members Janet Doman and Bettie Rae Hall, collect, sort, clean and deliver books in good condition to local agencies. From there, the books are delivered to area children, to advance literacy and help families build home libraries.
In just two months, under the direction of team lead Lori Kissinger, Aerin LeDuc-Gummeson has delivered hundreds of children’s and young adult books to Safe Passage, Adelante Comunidad Conejo, Los Cerritos Boys and Girls Club, and Conejo Recreation and Park District, all sorted by grade and reading levels. The agencies then hold an event for the children to receive their books. These are joyful occasions, with children thrilled with their new acquisitions and the wide range of titles to choose from. A recent email from an agency said that the children receiving the books were so excited that they literally would not put them away to go home at the end of the day.
Findings published in the journal Social Science Research show that a child raised in a home with a substantial number of books will see significant benefits in educational attainment and occupational standing. The Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library are dedicated to the library and to the cause of advancing literacy in the community, and we are so gratified to be working with area agencies to help families build home libraries, which will entertain and benefit their children for years to come.
Currently, Lori Kissinger is working on a big pilot project with the Conejo Unified School District, to connect students at Thousand Oaks High School with the Friends’ Core Literature collection. The database is in the process of being developed, so stay tuned for updates on what promises to be a very successful collaboration.
As the Conejo Rec and Park District put it, “Thank you for reaching out to us, thank you for picking out books our kids are going to love, thank you for taking the time to come on-site during this challenging time and thank you for giving this special gift to our kids.” We’d like to add our own thanks—to our team of dedicated community volunteers; to Library Director Heather Cousin and her staff, for their support and facilitating the transfer of donated books to our offsite sorting areas during the pandemic; to the area agencies with whom we collaborate; and of course, to our community, who so generously and consistently donates the gently loved books which make this program possible. To find out more, contact us at sales@ftol.org.