FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:   LEE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM
                    Heather O’Connell, Public Information Coordinator
                    (941) 479-4629 Office
                    (941) 479-4631 Fax

"Library Fiesta !" Draws Crowd to East County Regional Library

The official door count is in: 1,644 people attended the Library Open- House, Saturday at the East County Regional Library. This official number does not include everyone who attended. The groups coming in were so large that we couldn’t count them all!

The East County Regional Library routinely has great attendance, but this is the largest crowd since the Library’s opening ceremony, May 12, 2001, when 1,800 people came to see the new library.

The Library Fiesta was the grand finale of this year’s Literacy Week celebration, and was especially important to Spanish-speaking families. Highlights of the program included bi-lingual story telling by WINK-TV anchors, Jim McLaughlin and Lois Thome, as well as musical storytellers "Twice Upon a Time" and the Cat in the Hat.

We also had memorable musical performances by Immokalee Middle School principal, Manny Touron and Trio Inolvidable, as well as traditional dancing by Club Colombia of Cape Coral.

Lee County Library System’s Family Literacy Program and East County Library staff coordinated the event along with the Lehigh Acres Literacy Council and Hispanic Services of Catholic Charities, to improve awareness of the many programs and services that can be especially helpful to our Spanish-speaking patrons.

Each Lee County Library has a "READY Shelf" with materials for adults who want to improve their reading skills. The Library System also works with other local agencies, through the grant-funded Crossroads Literacy Project to offer free classes to "English as a Second Language"students.

For more information on the Crossroads Literacy Project and these classes, contact the Literacy office at 461-5885 or call the number above.