The Tri-County United Way, in conjunction with The Adirondack Rural Health Network, and Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company, announces that over 12,000 books have been donated to the Red Bookshelf Program, since the program began in September of 2011.

The Red Bookshelf Program circulates new and gently used children’s books into the community where they are made available free for children to own.  Red Bookshelves, placed around the community, allow children to take home books to enjoy, share and keep.

Book collection locations are available at all area branches of Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company.  Bright red ladybug containers are centrally located in each branch, so that donors can easily drop off books to share with local children.  Volunteers then collect these donations, and distribute to centralized locations for easy access by the public, where books are placed on shiny red bookshelves.  Red Bookshelves are located at:  Head Starts in both Warren and Washington counties; North Country Ministry, Washington County EOC(at the Washington County Municipal Center), Salvation Army, Family Service Association, SUNY Adirondack, Village Green, and Moreau Community Center. 

The goal of this program is to increase book ownership; encourage family reading opportunities, involve community volunteers in this literacy effort; and provide a wide range of reading, including books that focus on physical activity and healthy eating.

You can help by donating books, or volunteering to stock a particular bookshelf.  For further information call Tri-County United Way at 793-3136.  We wish to thank all of those donors who have already contributed books, and to encourage everyone who has children’s books in their homes which are not being used, to help us to circulate these books to other children.  This initiative can help to foster an interest in reading, and to help children develop a love for books. We hope to make this a truly community based movement, which will bring happiness to local children.