Ashcroft Awards Racing to Read Grant to Cedar County Library

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced that the Cedar County Library received a Racing to Read Grant of $4,085, which will be used to develop early literacy services for children from birth to six years of age.

“Libraries are an integral part of our communities, providing Missourians an opportunity to learn and grow through the wealth of knowledge and services they offer,” Ashcroft said. “Grants like the one Cedar County Library received are important to ensuring our libraries have the resources they need to provide the best services and programs to their patrons.”

The library will use the grant to provide more access to early literacy by holding six outreach events and four in-house programs. Additionally, the library will provide Toddler Story Time every week June through August, and every month from September through April. By partnering with the Head Start and the Health Department, the library hopes to expand its early literacy efforts throughout the community, especially to reach at-risk families.

Racing to Read Grants provide funding for eligible libraries to develop or strengthen partnerships to better reach families or caregivers of young children, particularly young children at risk of not being ready to read or to learn when they begin Kindergarten.

The Missouri State Library has approved a total of 155 grant applications in the 2017 fiscal year, totaling $1,492,681 in federal awards that the secretary’s office has distributed to libraries throughout Missouri. The grants are funded by the Library Services and Technology Act through the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.