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New Grants Support Library's "Baby Bunny Bags" Initiative
September 13, 2007
Grants totaling over $60,000 will support an Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library service to be launched later this fall that will encourage parents to read to their infants.
The Baby Bunny Bags program, made possible through the combined support of the Comcast Foundation and the Library Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF affiliate, will provide materials appropriate for infants, such as tactile books and board books, that parents or caregivers can use to introduce books to their young ones.
Modeled after the Library's original Bunny Bag program for preschoolers that began in 2006, the Baby Bunny Bags are cloth tote bags that contain 15 books and information on caretakers highlighting the early literacy needs of babies and toddlers.
"I applaud the Comcast Foundation for its continued commitment to our community and its willingness to invest in our leaders of today and tomorrow," said Indiana State Representative Gregory Porter. "Addressing literacy issues is key to the development of Indianapolis' future leaders. This grant from the Comcast Foundation to the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation is an important step in the right direction."
Research indicates that children must be exposed to books at an early age and that they gain crucial language skills by listening to stories.
The Baby Bunny Bags will be available for checkout at IMCPL branch locations and loaned to home daycare facilities from IMCPL's grant-funded Itty Bitty Bookmobile outreach service.
Established in 1999, the Comcast Foundation is the company's chief source of charitable support to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs that work to create a positive, sustainable impact within our communities in the areas of volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $43 million to organizations in the communities that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com under "In the Community."
The Library Fund is a field-of-interest fund of The Indianapolis Foundation. An anonymous donor to the Foundation established the fund in 1989 to benefit designated public, academic and high school libraries in Marion County. Marion County high school libraries are eligible if they have a full time media specialist.
The Indianapolis Foundation's Library Fund has awarded more than $18 million since its inception in 1989 to increase literacy, information literacy, and information access for Marion County residents.
