Between 7 and 8 a.m. Sept. 16 in the Country Inn and Suites conference room, I was reminded why I consider it a privilege to be a member of Daybreaker’s Kiwanis Club. 

Every Friday (new people are welcome) we have people from the community come to our club meeting to share about their role in this amazing greater Albert Lea community.  The morning of Sept. 16, Jenny Hanson spoke to our group about the new Reading Oasis Library that will be opening Nov. 1 of this year. Hanson is the director of early learning at Brookside Education Center.

The four Kiwanis clubs in Albert Lea were instrumental in getting this started. Between the four clubs we raised $2,500. In addition to this, Scholastic Books gave us a grant of $5,000, plus Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation pitched in another $2,500. One room in Brookside will be dedicated to providing children access to books. Some 200-plus children will have ongoing access to this library that didn’t exist before. 

As Kiwanians, we are very excited to play a role in this great event. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. We want our children in this community to have every opportunity to discover the ongoing joy of reading.

Dedicated professionals such as Hanson helped make this happen. Sean Brownlow, a senior at Albert Lea High School, took on the project of transforming the room that will serve as an oasis of reading. He is doing this to fulfill his Eagle Scout badge requirements. Other students have helped as well along with Brownlow’s family.

The Albert Lea School District received an $800,000 grant spread out over three years that makes it possible for 100 students to participate in preschool for free, including transportation. There are two voluntary pre-K classrooms at Halverson and one Hawthorne. Kudos to the school district for their proactive work in getting this grant. This is a tremendous development, and now students at Brookside, along with the greater community will have daily access to this Reading Oasis Library.

On her email site, Jenny Hanson has this quote: “Experts tell us that 90 percent of all brain development occurs by the age of 5. If we don’t begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind even before they start kindergarten.” — Robert. L. Ehrlich

I celebrate how so many people in the community are making it possible for the Reading Oasis Library to become a reality.

Joel B. Erickson

Albert Lea