Mayor Benjamin and Chief Holbrook to kick off Books 2 Boys + Girls and Columbia Police Department programming at Greenview Park – July 31
July 31, 2018
Mayor Steve Benjamin and Police Chief Skip Holbrook will host a Books 2 Boys + Girls event at 3 p.m. at Greenview Park on July 31 to kick-off new programming that will pair Columbia Police Department officers with Richland Library staff members to hand out books to children in Columbia.
“Books 2 Boys + Girls has been successful and impactful in giving away thousands of books to children in the city and even the county, and this next iteration, we’re excited to build community relationships between children and the first responders who protect them by having officers be the ones who hand out the books to the children,” said Mayor Benjamin.
CPD Chief Skip Holbrook said, “Any interaction with our youth is vital in building lasting relationships and trust between police officers and citizens. We have to raise up our next greatest generation, and we can start here.”
The new programming will include CPD officers doing a tour of different neighborhoods in the city with librarians to give away more books and interact with children in the community. Neighborhoods that are not currently served by a library location will have priority in determining which areas of the city to target. Visits will include officers reading aloud to children, book giveaways, literacy tips for parents, games and other giveaways.
In December 2014, Mayor Benjamin released the Justice for All initiative, which aims to strengthen the foundation of trust and accountability that exists between Columbia communities and law enforcement agencies. The new programming with CPD will fall under the community engagement tenet, which also includes bullying prevention education and other public engagement efforts.
At the event, Mayor Benjamin and Chief Holbrook will read a book to the children, a group comprised of City of Columbia Parks and Recreation camp attendees. Each student will have the opportunity to select four books to take home.
The book fair will provide approximately 1,500 books from which the students can choose. The books will vary in reading levels for children in grades 1-5 and will be set up by age group. Music will be provided by DJ NYCE, and refreshments will be provided for the children.
The summer campers in attendance will challenge police officers in a tug-of-war match in addition to social time with DJ Nyce and a meal provided.
The purchasing and selecting of the books is being coordinated by Richland Library. Hand-selected by librarians at Richland Library, the books are specific to topics and genres that may be of interest to children of those ages.
The Mayor’s Books 2 Boys + Girls initiative is funded by a gift from Cigna insurance.
