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Paul “Andy” Stewart
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Tab 11
Ledger, The (Lakeland, FL)
September 23, 2011
Foundation's Grant Is One for the Books
Author: DONNA KELLY
DUNDEE Every Wednesday morning, Dana Weidenhammer lines up the children attending Stay
and Play Learning Center to take their weekly, and much anticipated, trek to Dundee Public
Library for Story Time.
Last week the children had many more books from which to choose, thanks to a $700 grant from
the Libri Foundation. The nationwide nonprofit organization donates new, quality, hardcover
children's books to small, rural public libraries in the United States through its Books for
Children program.
Town Manager Andy Stewart said the grant required a $350 contribution from the library so
that it would be eligible to receive funding. The match came in the form of the donation.
"The town received its portion of the contribution from two local residents Hal Berenson and
Laura Ackerman," he said. "These two individuals were instrumental in receiving this grant and
we appreciate their support.
"The Library Cooperative has also been instrumental in assisting the town with grant funding
over the past several years and has been a big supporter of the Dundee Public Library," Stewart
said. The grant, generated by former Library Director Thelma Jones before she retired in May,
enabled the town to buy 78 new books, ranging from picture books and easy readers to juvenile
non-fiction and biographies to volumes about math and science. A number of young adult books
were bought, too.
Selections include "You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax," a biography of the left-handed Major
League baseball player who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1965, "A Wiff of Pine and a
Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems" by Deborah Ruddell and Joan Rankin; "We are in a Book:
An Elephant and Piggy Book" by Mo Willems, the Theodore "Suess: Geisel Honor Books
honoree; and "A Sick Day for Amos Mcgee" by Philip Stead, a winner of the Caldecott Medal
for children's book authors.
Head Librarian Assistant Julie Feagle, who took over operating the library when Jones retired,
said the library has received several grants from the Libri Foundation and credits it for the wide
selection of children's books the library has.
"They mean the world right now. We are in a budget crunch and we are not able to order books,"
Feagle said. "Getting the grant is a blessing because we were able to add new titles into our
collection. If it wasn't for this grant, we wouldn't have been able to get new books right now."
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