Chambersburg District Libraries

RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2003

CONTACT PERSON: Bernice Crouse 717-709-0282 x212 bdcrouse@fclspa.org

SUBJECT: LSTA Grant Brings New Books for Children to Fort Loudon Library

A cavalcade of new children’s and young adult books are stuffing the shelves of Fort Loudon’s railroad station public library. Young residents of the area will find a bright new selection of favorite picture book authors and illustrators already on the shelves. The number of nonfiction items on popular and current topics is beginning to grow as well.

In June, Franklin County Library System received the first monthly payment of a $25,500 federal Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. The funds are earmarked for expanding juvenile and young adult collections at the Fort Loudon Community Library in response to library customer satisfaction survey results from 2002.

The first items to reach the shelves were picture books by such famous authors as Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, Mercer Mayer, Stan and Jan Berenstain, Cynthia Rylant, Robert Munsch, Robert Kraus, William Steig, Emily Arnold McCully, Leo Lionni, and Nancy Carlstrom, creators of such memorable characters as “Horton”, “Stitch”, “Little Critter”, “Berenstain Bears”, “Poppleton”, “Little Mouse”, “Shrek”, and “Jesse Bear”. More than 125 picture books have already been added to Fort Loudon’s collection under the grant.

Older readers will also see many new titles: juvenile novels by Jean Craighead George, Willo Davis Roberts, and Will Hobbs; young adult novels by Ann Rinaldi, Diana Wynne Jones, and Sharon Draper; and quality nonfiction covering such popular topics as extreme sports, terrorism, energy, careers, Pennsylvania history, current newsmakers, Native Americans, dinosaurs, and the environment.

These collections will continue to grow over the next nine months, as grant funding is received. Fannett-Metal School District generously donated numerous units of used shelving from its library renovation project, which are being refinished to accommodate the many new books that are expected. Young library customers can also look forward to additional purchases of audiocassettes, CDs, videos, DVDs, and read-along kits.

To receive subject bibliographies of new purchases, youth, parents, or teachers may contact Bernice Crouse at Franklin County Library System, via phone 717-709-0282 x212 or e-mail bdcrouse@fclspa.org. All items are listed in the online public access catalog at www.fclspa.org.

Contact Bernice D. Crouse via above telephone or e-mail bdcrouse@fclspa.org.

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