For The Journal

Visit the Cortez Public Library in April for a free copy of the 2016 One Book 4 Colorado selection “Giraffes Can’t Dance!” while supplies last.

The library is at 202 N. Park St., and may be reached by calling 970-565-8117.

The book’s available in English or Spanish.

One Book 4 Colorado, started in 2012, gives away more than 75,000 copies of the same book to 4-year-olds in the state through public libraries and Denver Preschool Program classrooms.

The privately funded program is a collaboration between Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia’s office, Colorado Office of Early Literacy, Colorado State Library, the Denver Preschool Program, public and military libraries statewide, the private sector, and the nonprofit and foundation communities. Modeled after the successful Preschool One Book, One Denver program, both programs stem from the idea that providing young children with access to books promotes early literacy skills and helps families serve as their children’s first and most important teachers.

Research shows that 4-year-olds that have access to books and adults that read to them often will be much more likely to be ready to read when they start kindergarten. Children in low-income families tend to have fewer books in their homes and are exposed to 30 million fewer words before the age of four than their higher-income peers. One Book 4 Colorado aims to close this vocabulary gap by getting a book into the home of every 4-year-old in Colorado and fostering a culture of reading.

For more information, go to http://www.onebook4colorado.org