PLSF Partners with Norman Regional Health System and Shawnee SSM Health to Promote Early Childhood Literacy

Nov 12, 2024 | Press Release

Library staff and Foundation volunteers standing behind a new mom who is sitting in a chair with her baby. Everyone is holding a book.
Pioneer Library System staff and PLS Foundation volunteers celebrate the first newborn at Norman Regional Health System to receive the Dolly Parton Imagination Library welcome book, ‘The Little Engine That Could.’ Pictured from left: Beverly Theige (Norman Public Library Children’s Librarian), Will Merrick (PLS Development Officer), Lisa Wells (PLS Executive Director), Carlee Jacks (PLSF Board Member), Jana Morning (PLSF Board Member), and seated, Kayla Wade with baby A.J.
Cleveland and Pottawatomie Counties, OK, November 2024 — Pioneer Library System Foundation is excited to announce a new initiative to promote early childhood literacy in partnership with Norman Regional Health System and SSM Health in Shawnee. To foster a love of reading from birth, 2,500 brand-new books were delivered to the Norman Regional Health System, with additional books provided to SSM Health in Shawnee.

This initiative ensures that every new baby born at Norman Regional Health System and SSM Health in Shawnee will receive a free book and will invite parents to sign up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program dedicated to providing free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five. As an added result, families can begin to build their own at-home libraries using the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

“The Pioneer Library System Foundation is proud to support early literacy through our partnerships with local health systems,” said Will Merrick of the Pioneer Library System Foundation. “By providing these first books, we are giving families a meaningful resource to start their child’s reading journey from the very beginning, while connecting them with ongoing access to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. It is the Foundation’s hope that each book will remind parents of the wealth of early literacy resources available at their local library, which provides ongoing support to foster young minds and prepare children for future learning.”

This new initiative is part of the Pioneer Library System Foundation’s commitment to supporting early childhood education, family engagement, and literacy in our community.

About the Pioneer Library System Foundation

Founded in 2010, the Pioneer Library System Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization whose mission is supporting literacy and a love of learning throughout Pioneer Library System communities. Our donors support programs and community education initiatives above and beyond what is possible through public funding. Since its inception, the Foundation has generated more than $2.4 million in grants and private contributions for library programming and initiatives.

About the Pioneer Library System

Founded in 1958, PLS today offers full-access libraries in 10 communities throughout Cleveland, McClain, and Pottawatomie counties, as well as additional access locations in smaller communities and outreach services. For more information about PLS locations, services, and resources, visit pioneerlibrarysystem.org.

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