Children's book program adds Bluffton, Hilton Head Island schools

Children from low-income neighborhoods in Bluffton and Hilton Head will be given free books this year with the expansion of a program encouraging the county's 4-year-olds to read.

Community Foundation of the Lowcountry has awarded First Books of Beaufort a grant to help fund an expansion to Bluffton and Hilton Head in the coming year.

The organization already holds story hours and distributes books to 390 children in nine Northern Beaufort County schools. The new grant will bring that number to 750 books distributed and add four new schools to the program: Red Cedar Elementary, M.C. Riley Elementary, Hilton Head Island Early Learning Center and Sandlewood Head Start Center.

To learn more about First Books of Beaufort, go to http://www.firstbooksofbeaufort.com/ or call 843-217-5739.

To learn more about Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, go to http://www.cf-lowcountry.org/.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Children's book program adds Bluffton, Hilton Head Island schools."