Family Literacy Services

Registration is now open for the spring 2023 Raising A Reader program! It will run January 26 through March 31, 2023, at four branches. Registration forms can be obtained at your local library or by requesting them emailed from Pam (pdagrossa@countyofcolusa.com).  Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis, so enroll early! 

Raising A Reader is an early literacy program which promotes parent-child bonding through reading. In collaboration with First 5 Colusa, the library's Literacy Program offers two free, 10-week sessions per year, rotating through our branch locations. Each spring and fall, parents and their children, ages birth through five, establish a reading routine that has been proven to foster healthy brain development, healthy relationships, a love of reading, and the literacy skills critical for school success. Weekly story time and interactive activities at the library along with a weekly Book Bag rotation make reading fun for the whole family. Participants also receive free books to help build up their home libraries!

Contact Literacy Coordinator Pam DaGrossa (530-458-0373, pdagrossa@countyofcolusa.com) for more information or stop by your local branch!

Book Giveaways

The Colusa County Free Library Literacy Program gives away free books for children ages birth through 17 a minimum of six times per year. This is done not only to encourage a love of reading in the youth of the county, but also to promote literacy for the county as a whole by building up home libraries. In fact, around the world, one thing that has been shown to be a consistently powerful predictor of academic achievement is a home library.

Here are the top five reasons that we host youth book giveaways:

1. 79.3% of children who own books believe "the more I read, the better I become"
2. 20% of children who don’t own books read below their grade level
3. 34% of children who own books read "every day"
4. 15.4% of children who don’t own books "never read"
5. Children who don’t own books are 12.6% more likely to never visit a library

Preschool Summer Reading Program

Each summer, the Colusa County Free Library Literacy Program hosts a 6-week summer reading program of various themes for children ages birth-5. This year’s theme is All Together NOW: Todos Juntos Ahora - Kindness/Friendship/Unity. Children and their caregivers will explore this theme through stories, songs, and activities. Additionally, each week children will be given a new book appropriate to their age that they can take home to keep. This helps foster a love of reading in children and builds up home libraries!  Each participating site will be capped at 15 children, and registration is required. Enrollment begins May 20; contact the Literacy Coordinator at 458-0373 for questions or more information about registration. In the past, this program has been largely funded by a grant from CAP-C.

Summer Book to Movie Club

Each summer, the Colusa County Free Library Literacy Program hosts a free Book to Movie Club for local middle-school-aged children, grades 5-9! Over the course of 6 weeks, 10 participants will read three books and watch the movie adaptations to compare and contrast versions. Teens receive their own copies of each title to add to their home libraries! In the past, this program has been funded by grants from CAP-C and Premier Mushrooms Inc.

Summer 2022
Wonder by RJ Palacio
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Summer 2021
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Holes by Louis Sachar
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Summer 2020
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Summer 2019
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Summer 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (Graphic Novel) by Madeline L’Engle
Wonder by RJ Palacio
Matilda by Roald Dahl

Summer 2017
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Summer 2016
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Nursery Rhyme Time

This winter program is a weekly story time for children ages birth to 5 and their caregivers, that blends traditional nursery rhymes with modern counterparts, through stories, songs, and finger plays. No registration is required. The next NRT will begin November 2023. Call 458-0373 for more information.