Yolo County includes the suburban communities of Davis, West Sacramento and Winters, the University of California, Davis, and agricultural regions with a population that is widespread and diverse. Yolo County Library has served local residents for more than one hundred years and has facilities in Clarksburg, Davis, Esparto, Knights Landing, West Sacramento, Winters and Yolo.
Since 2016, the Yolo County Library Foundation (YCLF) has provided financial support to Yolo County Library so it can effectively provide essential literacy, reading and educational resources, services and programs throughout the county.
As a volunteer-run organization, 100% of donations YCLF receives go to support its top funding priority – early literacy.
The National Commission on Reading states, “the single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.”
Despite the significance of this finding, the California Department of Education (2020) reports that only 48% of children in Yolo County read at grade level by 3rd grade.
YCLF's financial support enables Yolo County Library to provide parents, caregivers and children with:
1) free reading materials in both print and digital formats,
2) books to create home libraries, and
3) early literacy tips and training so families can celebrate reading.
In 2022, YCLF:
*Funded $3,500 toward the new Yolo Branch Library opening day collection, which paid for approximately 188 collection items.
*Funded $1,000 toward giveaway books for Dia de los Ninos, which paid for 378 books.
*Funded $10,000 toward Summer Reading Program (SRP) giveaway books, which paid for 3,509 books.
*Approved funding for 2 years of Beanstack software subscription; $3,385.55 for Year 1 to be invoiced in October 2023.
*Approved funding for 3 years of Tumblebooks beginning in 2020; invoiced in Jan. 2023 the amount of $4,900 for Year 3 for the subscription year starting November 2022.
From the Violet Hansen Memorial Funds:
*Funded $3,000 toward Lunch at the Library (LATL) giveaway books, which paid for 1,187 books.
*Funded $3,000 to update board books for Violet’s Corner, which paid for a portion of 341 books.
*Funded $5,000 toward the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which paid for approximately 107 enrollments and 2,228 months of registration.