February 1 - March 2, 2012

The 2012 Winter Reading Program, presented by the Library of Virginia and Blackwater Regional Library, features the cover art of First Dog by J. Patrick Lewis and Beth Zappitello and illustrated by Tim Bowers, a wonderful picture book with adorable illustration of a Portuguese Water Dog. Image used with permission from Sleeping Bear Press TM, a Gale.Cengage Learning Company.

The Library of Virginia promotes this annual winter reading program that begins in February, "I Love to Read" Month, and concludes on March 2, "Read Across America" Day. The winter reading program is designed to instill a love of reading in young children by having the child's parent or other special adult read to them.

The winter reading program builds on the special relationship public librarians have with children and the adults who bring them to the library. The desired outcome of the program is the creation of communities where children are ready to learn when they attend kindergarten.

"Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and to perform better in school. Other family activities such as telling stories and singing songs also encourage children's acquisition of literacy skills." (from National Center for Education
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Register at your local Blackwater Regional branch and receive a bookmark and a reading log. The Franklin and Smithfield branches will be hosting kickoff programs - view their pages or the calendar for more information. The Winter Reading Program is for children birth to age 6 (or 1st grade). 

Blackwater Regional Library now has LS2 Mobile, a smart-phone interface that allows patrons to connect to our catalog from any place with mobile or Wi-Fi Internet Service.

LS2 Mobile can search BRL's entire catalog and place items on hold. Additionally, patrons can check their account balances, renew items and, if they've had a change of heart, cancel holds on previously reserved items. All you need is an Android device, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Click the above LS2 Mobile banner for directions on how to download the app to your mobile device.

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