1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.

It’s ambitious, but not as impossible as it first appears.

Bluffton Friends of the Library and SHANNON Service Club joined together this winter to sponsor the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program through the Bluffton Public Library, according to Esther Birkey, youth services coordinator at the library. 

The program encourages early literacy development in the home. It is open to children from birth through the start of Kindergarten.

To help launch the program, which officially started in late January the SHANNON club is providing free book bags for the first 100 sign-ups. In addition, the Friends have provided free books for those first 100 sign-ups.

Here’s how the program works:
• Register your child at the library front desk and receive your 1,000 Book Before Kindergarten Information Pack. It includes a reading log and helpful book list.

• Select appropriate books for your child.

• Read aloud to your child and use the log to keep track of what you read. Books read at the library, storytime, daycare centers and preschools may be counted.

• Once you finish the first reading log of 200 books, come in with your folder. You will receive the next reading log sheet and a small incentive to keep reading.

• When you have read 1,000 books you and your child will receive a special gift and a certificate of completion.

According to Birkey, the program has several goals:

“The program encourages families to read aloud to their young children, to introduce children to a variety of books and to promote early literacy,” she said. “In addition, the program helps to reinforce parents’ goal as their child’s first teachers. It also encourages families to regularly use the library for lifelong learning.