2008 Bequest Will Support Library's Early Literacy Initiative
LOS ANGELES, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Gary and Karen Winnick and The Winnick Family Foundation today announced a major contribution to the Los Angeles Public Library. The $25,000 gift will be used to help fund Read to Me L.A., a new early literacy initiative aimed at nurturing literacy skills among children ages two to five. The Winnick gift is the latest in a long series of charitable donations on the part of The Winnick Family Foundation to the Los Angeles Public Library, including a $1 million grant in 2004 that enabled the Central Library to open a new, state-of-the-art Popular Library.
"We are very excited to become part of the community supporting the very effective Read to Me L.A. program," said Gary Winnick, a prominent philanthropist and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. "The initiative is modeled on a nationally acclaimed program developed by the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children, along with a couple of key national public sector entities. The research behind the initiative is impeccable, and the program is a perfect fit for The Winnick Family Foundation mandate. Whether with regard to the Popular Library, the Central Library exhibitions program or any of the myriad other innovative library related endeavors we support, the Winnick Family is firmly committed to projects that catalyze a desire for literary among communities that have hitherto had fewer library-based opportunities to discover reading than there more affluent counterparts."
In addition to initiatives such as Read to Me L.A. that directly target readers, the Winnick Family Foundation also provides critical support to programs that help to conserve and document rare books in the Library collections.
"The wonderful generosity of Gary and Karen Winnick and the Winnick Family Foundation has positively contributed to our community in Los Angeles and to the literacy of the many diverse citizens we serve," said Fontaine Holmes, City Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library. "Read to Me L.A. is an important program that targets young readers in their early developmental stages."
Finally, the Winnick Family Foundation also supports the new technology- focused aspects of library research both in the Central Library and beyond. For example, the Winnick Family Foundation has funded after-school computer aid positions in six branch libraries located around the greater Los Angeles area.
"We look forward to continuing to be proactive and available to the Los Angeles Public Library as the Library expands to meet the needs of its growing and diversifying community of new readers," said Mr. Winnick. "There is nothing more important for our democratic future than doing everything we can to foster a maximally literate population. Dedicating resources to this vital endeavor will remain a core mission of The Winnick Family Foundation."
The Winnick Family Foundation
