Everyone has heard that the greatest gift you can give a child is the gift of reading. But judging from the sticker price of books these days, that present can certainly come at a premium.
Parents who are looking to hook their young ones on the written word this summer but balk when in Borders can look to a book giveaway scheduled for Saturday, July 19 at Milton Town Hall.
The event, running from 9 a.m. until noon, is being promoted by the Our Towne Ballston Spa group along with help from the Ballston Spa Rotary Club. The idea, however, originated with Ballston Chiropractic.
Every year they go into the community at the village-wide garage sale and encourage people to donate children’s books, said Angela McFarland, owner and publisher of Our Towne Ballston Spa. `It just so happens this year that both their distribution resources fell apart.`
That left the folks of Ballston Chiropractic with roughly 800 children’s books and no way to get them into the hands of developing readers. Thankfully, the rotary club and the Town of Milton were able to provide the means of distribution. The overriding theme is to improve literacy rates, especially among lower income households.
Parents are asked to bring their own bags to the event, where their child will be able to `shop` for his or her own titles. Most of the titles are at the grade school level, according to McFarland. She said there will be a tentative three book limit per child, but they will give more if they are able.
For more on this story, check the July 17 print edition of the Milton Spotlight.“