Library System Gets $249,000 Grant

The Santa Barbara Public Library System received a $249,000 National Leadership Grant to promote reading for low-literacy families, library officials announced Wednesday. The award was part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services $9.2 million grant program; Santa Barbara’s project was selected among 51 others out of 212 applicants. The library will use the money to implement and evaluate the three-year Juntos Leemos/Read Together Program, which “target reluctant readers and low-literacy families by promoting family read-alouds where an older sibling or trained mentor becomes a family reading support,” library reps said.