“The Kansas Book Festival works year round to promote literacy and encourage a life-long love of reading,” First Lady Brownback said at the ceremony. “These grants will help preserve and improve local and school libraries across the state.”

Lawrence Gardner High School (LGHS), under the auspices of Greenbush educational services, is the educational provider for the juvenile correctional facility in Topeka. The LGHS library was awarded $500 from grants funded through corporate sponsors and monies raised at an annual book festival hosted by Mrs. Brownback.

“Just as with educating any student, the more literacy and education that we can provide to the youth within our juvenile correctional facility through the Lawrence Gardner High School, the more successful those youth will be upon their return to society,” said Kyle Rohr, superintendent of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex.

Lawrence Gardner Librarian Karen Gerstenkorn said at the ceremony, “Because our students do not have Internet access, it’s important to keep our fiction and non-fiction offerings as current as possible.  This $500 award will be used toward that goal by updating our non-fiction as well as updating our popular young adult fiction selection so as to encourage our youth to keep on reading.”

The 2013 Kansas Book Festival will be held September 7 at the Kansas State Capitol. The Kansas Book Festival Fund is a 501c3 organization through the Topeka Community Foundation.