The North Wilkes Library has been awarded a $700 grant for children's books from the Libri Foundation.

The Libri Founndation is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, and was established in 1989 for the sole purpose of helping rural libraries acquire new, quality, hardcover children's books they could not otherwise afford to buy. Since October 1990, the foundation has donated over $3,500,000 worth of new children's books to more than 2,600 libraries in 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

The staff of the North Wilkes Library will select from a list of 700 titles offered by the foundation. All the books on the list have been reviewed by publications recognized by the American Library Association, and most of the titles are winners of the Caldecott, Newbery, and other prestigious awards.

This is an opportunity to bring the children's section up to date and to strengthen it in some areas where it is weak. In addition to bringing in the latest award winning titles, grant funds will be used to broaden the cultural diversity of the collection, and to cover such topics as Alzheimer's disease, species extinction, presidential elections and disabilities, in ways that children can understand.

This grant will add $1,050 worth of children's books to the North Wilkes Library. The Libri Foundation matches locally raised funds in a two-to-one ratio. The library's share, $350, came from donations by the Tignall Homemakers Club and the Sophia Bamford Sunday School Class of Independence United Methodist Church, along with money raised by an on going book sale at the library.