Free Books, Ice Cream for Sarasota Kids Wednesday

Sarasota, FL — Kids in the North Sarasota area will have a great reason to head outside Wednesday afternoon. The Sarasota Housing Authority, police department and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County plan to team up for the second annual Book ‘Em – Cops & Kids Literacy Event.

During the one-afternoon event, police officers will hand out free books to kids. But, that’s not all. The cops will be followed closely by an ice cream truck. That truck’s staff is poised to give out free treats to all kids who receive a ticket by collecting a free book.

The event is set for Wednesday, July 13 to recognize the Campaign for Grade Level Reading’s National Summer Learning Day.

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“The dual-purpose event will provide free books for low-income kids to read and mitigate against summer learning loss, as well as provide positive interaction with police to foster relationships and trust between Sarasota Police and families,” the police department wrote in an email to media.

Sarasota Police Officers plan to hand out books to kids ages 2 to 12 at the following locations starting around 4 p.m.:

• Orange, Courts, Bertha Mitchell, 1912 N. Orange Ave.
• Janie’s Garden, 2350 Central Ave.

Money to pay for the books comes from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the Suncoast Campaign for Grade Level Reading.

Photo Lt. Lori Jaress and Capt. Kevin Stiff at last year’s event courtesy of the Sarasota Police Department