AUBURN — The Auburn Public Library is partnering with staff at the Androscoggin County Jail to create a family literacy program for inmates and their children.

The new program, “ReadingConnects!,” seeks to improve the literacy skills of incarcerated parents and their children, foster each child’s interest in books so they will be ready to learn when they reach school, and encourage incarcerated parents to bond with their children through reading.

Funding will be used for the purchase of 12 durable bags and the books for each bag, which will be brought to the county jail on a monthly rotating basis, to provide quality children’s literature for inmates to read to their children on visit days.

Each bag will have a theme, “story extenders” (questions to ask the children to increase their comprehension), and activities such as puzzles, flash cards or coloring sheets that complement and supplement the theme.

FMI: www.auburnpubliclibrary.org, 207-333-6640.

Attorney Jennifer Ferguson, left, of Fales and Fales Law Firm, presents a check to Auburn Public Library Director Mamie Anthoine Ney, second from left, to support the library’s “ReadingConnects!” family literacy program at the Androscoggin County Jail. Also pictured, from left, are Sgt. Victoria Langelier, programs director at the jail; Deb Cleveland, Children’s Library Services manager; and Susan Geismar, library development coordinator. 

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