Local organization instills love for reading in Houston County
PERRY, Ga. -- Reading on my Mind, a non-profit organization that got started in the garage of Lorie and Taylor Peterson seven years ago.
Over that time, the organization has helped spread a passion for reading across the area. A passion that Lorie instilled in her daughter, Taylor.
"My fondest memories were her taking me to the library and spending a good amount of time at the library curled up on a couch reading my favorite books," Taylor said.
During the Helping Hands Christmas dinner seven years ago, the Peterson's handed out books to children there.
"We had so many books and such a good time doing it we decided to keep going," Lorie said.
They first worked out of their garage and would deliver donated books to different organizations. One year later, they moved into their current building next to Loaves and Fishes in Perry.
"When we first moved in we had just this one room and we just had a couple of book cases we just a few books," said Lorie.
Now the library has three rooms with a variety of both children and adult books. People can go to the library and pick up two to three books to keep. Since opening, they have given out over 68,000 books.
"It's the best thing to give books to kiddos and adults," said Lorie. "We just love it."
This Christmas they partnered up with Books-A-Million for a children's book drive.
"We are just incredibly overwhelmed with the support and the giving of this community," said Lorie.
They collected over $10,000 worth of books for children in Houston County. The Peterson's are just glad kids are learning to love reading.
"If I can give that to someone else and I can kinda instill that love in another child than there is nothing more I would want," Taylor said.
Reading on my Mind is open Mondays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, visit their website.
