2021

“We are grateful to have been selected as the winner of the Penguin Random House Library Award for Innovation Through Adversity for our children's sports equipment lending and library card amnesty program," said Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Director Mary Jean Jakubowski.  "In its first year, our program Exercise for the Body and Mind welcomed hundreds of children back to the Library and erased more than $15,000 in fines and fees from their library cards when they borrowed kid-sized sports kits including soccer balls, lacrosse sticks, and snowshoes.  The program, which began as a pilot in one Library located in a diverse and underserved neighborhood in the City of Buffalo, will be expanding into eight libraries throughout Erie County this summer.  This is another example of how libraries are creating opportunities to remove barriers while investing in their communities," added Ms. Jakubowski.