DALLAS, GA – The Dallas Public Library recently opened its Family Learning Center, providing a dedicated space with free resources for caregivers to teach and improve a child’s literacy skills in Dallas.

Funded by the Literacy for Learning, Living and Leading (L4GA) grant from the Georgia Department of Education and Get Paulding Reading, the Family Learning Center opened on December 17 inside the library and aims to improve l literacy in the early stages of child development.

According to Get Georgia Reading, two-thirds of third-graders in Georgia are do not read at school level, which has “important and long-term consequences for all Georgians, as poor reading results affect our economy, our safety and our health.”

The third year is when the program shifts from learning to read to reading to learning. This is why grade 3 reading level is an important milestone – and children unable to make the change face barriers to future learning.

The New Dallas Public Library Center offers learning games, visual vocabulary and word flash cards, training materials, multi-purpose, hotspots, and family word games to play together to provide resources to help close the reading gap in Georgia.

Visitors can browse two articles at a time for teaching and playing at home, or “rent a room” – although it’s free – at the center to use on-site resources, according to library director Amy Mollenkamp.

“We hope that by opening this center we will give Paulding County the resources it needs to get its children reading on the right track,” Mollenkamp said in a video posted on the Dallas Public Library Facebook page.

The learning center is open for public use for the following hours:

• from Monday to Thursday
  • 10 a.m. to noon
  • 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday

And for use of reservation for tutors, homeschoolers and individual studies, the center is open at the following times:

• from Monday to Thursday
  • 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
  • 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Friday

The library is located at 1010 E. Memorial Drive in Dallas.