A $25,000 grant from the Auen Foun­da­tion will add more large print books to the Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library’s per­ma­nent col­lec­tion. The gift was recent­ly pre­sent­ed to the Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library Foun­da­tion, a non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tion that sup­ports the award-win­ning, inde­pen­dent City-man­aged library and its programs.

“We are delight­ed that the Auen Foun­da­tion chose to sup­port the Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library Foun­da­tion,” said Diane Sagan, the organization’s chair­per­son. “This gen­er­ous gift will help the Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library main­tain excel­lence in col­lec­tions, ser­vices and programs.”

“Large print books keep our community’s seniors read­ing, even when they expe­ri­ence changes in their vision,” said Sher­rie Auen, Pro­gram Direc­tor for the Auen Foun­da­tion. “No one should be denied the oppor­tu­ni­ty to read. It’s a part of life­long learn­ing that so many peo­ple enjoy.”

Now cel­e­brat­ing the library’s 20th anniver­sary, the Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library has been rec­og­nized as one of the busiest and most admired libraries of its size in Cal­i­for­nia. The library offers print pub­li­ca­tions for all ages, mul­ti­me­dia selec­tions, access to tech­nol­o­gy. Plus, enter­tain­ment and cul­tur­al enrich­ment pro­grams are part of the library’s reg­u­lar schedule.

“The Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library was built on com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships, and we are hap­py to be a part of what makes this a fine com­mu­ni­ty asset,” said Catharine Reed, senior pro­gram offi­cer for the Auen Foundation.

The library has start­ed pur­chas­ing and pro­cess­ing a col­lec­tion that will include at least 1,500 new large print books with the Auen Foun­da­tion fund­ing. In recent years, pub­lish­ers have been active­ly pro­duc­ing more large print books in paper­back. This lighter, easy-to-read for­mat, improves the read­ing expe­ri­ence for those need­ing this type of assis­tance to main­tain the plea­sure of reading.

“This is a tremen­dous gift that will have long term impact on the avail­abil­i­ty of large print books for our patrons who keep read­ing because of their com­fort with this for­mat,” said David Bryant, library direc­tor. “Each book we add will have a book­plate, not­ing that the vol­ume is avail­able because of the gen­eros­i­ty of the Auen Foundation.”

All of the new large print books will be avail­able for check­out with a Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library card. Cal­i­for­nia res­i­dents with a valid ID can receive a card through an easy reg­is­tra­tion process. Sea­son­al res­i­dents, show­ing proof of a Ran­cho Mirage address, will also be issued a free card. Out-of-state vis­i­tors are charged a mod­est card fee. The library is eager to serve the entire Coachel­la Val­ley and beyond.

The Ran­cho Mirage Pub­lic Library is locat­ed at 71–100 High­way 111, Ran­cho Mirage. For more infor­ma­tion, go to www.ranchomiragelibrary.org or call 760–341-7323.

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