Free Books For Children Available In Southington Friday, Aug. 23

Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Pupils return to class in Southington next week on Thursday, Aug. 29, but there's still some time to get a bit more summer reading in.

As a result, "Read to Grow" and the "Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington" are partnering on the second annual Southington Summer Bookmobile Tour.

The organizations will be spending the day distributing books to children in Southington on Friday, Aug. 23.

All three stops of this Bookmobile tour are free and open to the public.

Each stop will last at least an hour, giving children and families the opportunity to board our

Bookmobile to choose a new book to take home with them.

The locations of these stops are:

• The Margaret Griffin Child Development Center (lower parking lot off Eden Avenue behind Derynoski Elementary School) from 10 to 11 a.m.

• Bread for Life’s Summer Lunch Program (Summer Brook Apartments, building 32A-35 parking lot, 35CC Darling St.) from noon to 1 pm.

• Southington Farmers Market (Southington Town Green, North Main Street) from 3 to 5 p.m.

“We are thrilled to bring our Bookmobile back to three wonderful places that serve children in
Southington,” said Read to Grow Executive Director Suzannah Holsenbeck. “It’s especially
exciting to have three different stops that are each open to the public. Read to Grow is always
looking for new areas to serve and the Bookmobile provides the vehicle, literally and
figuratively, to do so.”

Joanne C. Kelleher, executive director of the Early Childhood Collective of Southington said
“we are excited to share this opportunity to build a home library with families in town. The
ECCS is also promoting the free Sparkler mobile app as a resource for caregivers of children
under five in conjunction with these community events.”

Now in its 24th year, Read to Grow is a literacy nonprofit that operates statewide, providing more than 120,000 books a year to children and families via several programs. The Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington is a group of educators, parents, grandparents, healthcare and childcare providers, business owners, civic organizations, and members of the community invested in the growth, development, and academic success of children in Southington.