Our mission... The mission of the Garden City Public Library Foundation is to support the Garden City Public Library in its efforts to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen the community of Garden City, Idaho. BYLAWS-OF-GARDEN-CITY-PUBLIC-LIBRARY-FOUNDATION.pdf What we do.... The Garden City Public Library Foundation provides financial support for the bookmobile and other library programs. |
Bells for Books - Bells for Books, aka the bookmobile or The Big Blue Bus, is the mobile literacy program of the Garden City Library. It is funded entirely by the Garden City Public Library Foundation through donations and grants.
Bells began in 1994 when Kate McMillan and Ruth Wright noticed children in our neighborhoods were having trouble keeping up with their reading during the summer. Many children lived too far from the library or on unsafe streets and could not get to the library for books. With help from the Gem State Kiwanis Club, the two women loaded up a van with books, snacks, and volunteer readers and headed out into the Garden City neighborhoods. They rang a set of antique cow bells as arrived at their stops to alert children and parents that bookmobile had arrived. Bells for Books was born.
The program caught on and grew each summer. In the fall of 1996, Ruth Wright donated the Bells for Books program to the Garden City Library Foundation. Bells for Books has continued to grow, always working towards our mission: “to ensure that every child in Garden City has access to library books.”
Thanks to a generous donation in 2003 by the estate of the late Ruth Lormar, the Bells for Books program purchased our beautifully equipped bookmobile.
With a growing collection of more than 8,000 books, the Bells for Books program is running stronger than ever. We loaned over 7,600 books last summer with over 5,800 visits by children and over 800 visits by adults. No library card is needed to check out books from the bookmobile. During the summer months, donated prizes, including new books and t-shirts, are given to boys and girls as incentives for returning all books. In recent years many teen and adult books have been added to the collection, as well as a large number of bilingual books, to help us better serve our community. In 2019, Bells for Books community stops were often coordinated with the summer free lunch program of the Idaho Foodbank, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities were added to help slow down the “summer slide” in STEM. Bells for Books is a beloved fixture throughout Garden City.
Library Programs – All of the enrichment programs offered by the Garden City Public Library are funded by the Garden City Public Library Foundation. Programs are offered for Youth and Family as well as Adults.
Highlights of Youth and Family programs in the 2019 library year included The Summer Reading Program with fabulous prizes for those who read 10 or more books. Bicycles, long boards, swimming lessons, baby toys, and, of course, books, were given out to happy readers. And the 50th anniversary celebration of Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar brought together dozens of children and parents.
Adult programs include The Garden City Legal Clinic, Senior Bingo, and tours and activities in The Pollinator Garden.
The Endowment Fund – The Garden City Public Library Foundation achieved a major goal in 2019 when it set up a $50,000 endowment fund for the Garden City Public Library. This endowment will provide additional sources of funding for the various library programs.
Garden City Public Library Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Idaho , 6015 Glenwood Street, Garden City, ID 83714