If you’re reading this, the chances are pretty good that you are a library user and a reader. Someone read to you, nurtured your love of the written word and gave you books so you could build your own library. (Of course, you used the library too!) Our goal at Sacramento Public Library is to nurture a lifelong love of learning and reading.
The Library is lucky to have a partner in our effort. The Friends of Sacramento Public Library, the only official fundraising partner of the Library, have a long history of helping us lead the literacy charge. Through Book First, we spark a love of reading in children, a gift that will take them around the world and around the universe and create a lifetime of learning opportunities.
In 2020, the Friends raised $82,837 through their Big Day of Giving appeal to support the fifth year of our Book First program, making it possible for the Library to provide two books to every first-grade students at 171 eligible schools throughout Sacramento County. Not only that, despite not being able to volunteer in person, in December 2020, 147 Friends volunteers assembled 14,000 student packs from the comfort and safety of their homes.
The Friends are doubling down on their commitment to Book First. Friends volunteers have joined SPL librarians on virtual class visits at more than 500 first grade classrooms through Sacramento County. That’s the power of true partnerships and the commitment of people who believe in the Library’s mission.