What We Do
What We Do
We support Yolo County Library’s mission to “provide access for all to ideas that inform, entertain, and inspire.”
Funding Priorities
Priority #1: Early Literacy so Children Read for Life
According to the National Commission on Reading, “the single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.” Despite the significance of this finding, the California Department of Education (2020) reports that only 48% of children in Yolo County read at grade level by 3rd grade.
In an effort to improve early literacy rates, the Yolo County Library Foundation’s (YCLF) top funding priority is to provide parents and caregivers in our underserved and underrepresented communities with free books and literacy training to celebrate and model reading. Numerous studies show that children who enter Kindergarten with early literacy skills are more likely to read at grade level by 3rd grade and graduate from high school.
Donations to YCLF enable the Yolo County Library to purchase and distribute high quality, age-appropriate books to parents and caregivers to create literacy-rich environments at home. In addition to free books, Library staff use the Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) framework to provide early literacy tips, tools and strategies to educate parents and caregivers on how to share and model early literacy skills with their children so they can read at grade level.
Priority #2: Early Literacy Toolkit
We provide financial support for Yolo County Library to develop an Early Literacy Toolkit that includes print and digital resources for families to prepare their children for success in school.
Priority #3: Summer and Winter Reading Programs
We provide financial support for Yolo County Library’s online registration service that is used for its Summer and Winter Reading Programs. This tool makes it easy for readers of all ages to track the number of books read to qualify for incentives and prizes.
Priority #4: English Language Learning programs
We support the expansion of Yolo County Library’s English conversation clubs, English classes, and the Yolo Reads Adult and Family Literacy Program to all eight branch libraries.
