Posted: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 10:18 am

Linebaugh Public Library System (LPLS) will purchase two series of books that will help children progress in the challenge of reading.

Made possible in part by a grant from The Richard Siegel Foundation, these high-quality books will help all children learn to read more easily, especially those with dyslexia. The Richard Siegel Foundation offers grants to organizations that promote high moral and ethical standards and are available to all children regardless of race, religion, or national origin.

“We currently only have a small collection of ‘high interest/low level’ books at our Linebaugh branch,” says Youth Services Librarian Joan Hemphill. “With this grant, we will expand the collection here at Linebaugh and extend it to our Smyrna, Myrtle Glanton Lord, and Eagleville branches, as well as on our Bookmobile.”

The first series of books is the Books To Remember series from Flyleaf Publishing. These books, created especially for beginning readers in grades K-3, are phonetically decodable beginning reading books that tell rich and engaging stories. The second series of books, High Noon Books from Academic Therapy Publication, target children in upper elementary and junior high schools who display high interests in reading and low ability levels for their ages. Though the difficulty levels in this series are lower, the subject matter is more age-appropriate, ranging from literary classics to contemporary themes.

“We requested these books specifically because they will help bridge the gap between phonetic decoding and fluent independent reading,” says Hemphill. Both series of books will be available in February for public use and checkout by library patrons, and will appeal especially to teachers, parents, educational therapists, ESL teachers, and specialists in all fields working with persons with reading, learning, and communication disabilities.

Linebaugh Public Library is located at 105 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro. The Library is the cornerstone of our community, enriching lives through free resources for learning, fun, and opportunity. For more information, call 615-893-4131 or visit www.linebaugh.org.