The Winnick Family Foundation Announces Major New Gift to Los Angeles Public Library

The Winnick Family Foundation Announces Major New Gift to Los Angeles Public
Library
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're 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."
SOURCE The Winnick Family Foundation

Fontaine Holmes of Los Angeles Public Library, +1-213-228-7516