The GRO Program

Giving Reading Opportunities or GRO is a program developed as a result of a Parent /Child Library Services grant from the NYS Library and NYS Education Department to the Richmond Memorial Library. The goal of the GRO program is to create a culture of community support and awareness of the importance of preschool literacy.

The Community Literacy Coalition, a group made up of representatives of each of the elementary schools, both public and parochial,  Batavia Agri-Business, NIOGA and the Richmond Memorial Library was  formed to support the advancement of preschool literacy in our area. The Coalition’s goals are the following:

• To make books available to children and their families throughout the community.
• To encourage families to use the public library and participate in activities that promote reading readiness.
• To achieve more community awareness of the benefits of early literacy.
• To create and  sustain a community of active readers.