Edmunds County Tribune -

The Stephanie Miller-Davis Library Summer Reading Grant Program has continued its third year supporting summer reading programs in small rural communities in partnership with the South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) and the South Dakota State Library (SDSL). The program has distributed $25,000 to libraries in rural communities across South Dakota.

The M.P. Beebe Memorial Library in Ipswich was among the libraries awarded $1,000 to support their summer reading program.

Stephanie loved books. She created her legacy by donating children’s books and bookcases to the school library in her hometown of Murdo. She wanted to provide the children in the community the books she longed to read as a child growing up on the South Dakota prairie.

“My mother’s legacy will go on through this exciting grant program,” said Stephanie’s daughter, Anne Franz. “If my mom was here today, I think she would be proud that we are continuing to support the heroic work of parents, teachers, librarians and other community members to provide every child the chance to read even through the challenges of any social distancing necessary this summer.”

“We are so thankful for the vision and passion of the Miller-Davis family to serve the literacy needs of kids in small towns and rural areas across South Dakota. These rural public libraries have struggled in recent years, especially during the pandemic, to keep their doors open.” said Daria Bossman, South Dakota State Librarian. “Having a quality summer reading program with new books is such a treasure for the entire community.”

“The South Dakota Community Foundation is proud to partner with the Stephanie Miller-Davis family as they perpetuate their mother’s passion and investment in early childhood literacy across South Dakota,” said Jeff Veltkamp, SDCF Director of Development. “I think Stephanie would be very proud to see her husband and daughters continuing her investment in children.”

The SDCFadministers over 1,000 funds benefiting thousands of wonderful causes every year. To learn more about charitable opportunities through the SDCF, visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/ or call (605) 224-1025.

The South Dakota State Library (SDSL) is a division of the SD Department of Education. SDSL supports local libraries and works to build capacity within the state’s public and school libraries with an overall goal of 100,000 S.D. children participating in summer reading programs. You can participate by joining your local library and attend summer reading events. Attend in-person, outdoor, take home or virtual programming towards their continued goal of 100,000 participants. Take a book selfie of yourself and share on social media with #SDSummerReading2021. Join them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube! To learn more visit library.sd.gov.