Kentucky's First Lady Announces New Free Literacy Resource Available to All Kentucky Schools, Libraries and Families

Mrs. Beshear also encourages gifting books to children with ‘Winnie’s Christmas Book Club’

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 19, 2024) – As part of her commitment to Kentucky students, First Lady Britainy Beshear announced that TeachingBooks is now available and free to use at all Kentucky schools and libraries throughout the commonwealth, as well as online from a laptop or cellphone. This website provides learning resources about approximately 100,000 books for children and young adults.

“Reading to children, either in the classroom or in our public libraries, is one of my favorite things to do,” the First Lady said. “On my visits around the state, I’ve learned that teachers, librarians and families are always looking for ways to bring stories to life for their kids, just like Andy and I loved to do for Will and Lila. That’s exactly what TeachingBooks is all about.” 

She also shared “Winnie’s Christmas Book Club,” a list of picture books that would make great gifts for Kentucky kids this Christmas season. These include holiday books, Kentucky books and some of the Beshear family’s all-time favorite stories. They are all featured on TeachingBooks here, with book cover jigsaw puzzles, videos, discussion questions and more.

The First Lady also encouraged buying from local bookstores and supporting Kentucky authors when shopping.

“There is no gift more magical for our kids than the gift of reading – opening up a world of opportunity and imagination,” Mrs. Beshear said. “A book off of Winnie’s list would make the perfect present for any young Kentuckian. These stories feature our commonwealth’s rich heritage, teach important lessons and spread holiday cheer. Give a Kentucky book to a Kentucky child this year.”

This isn’t the first time Kentucky’s First Dog, Winnie, has jumped in to help Kentucky children learn. The Beshears have released two coloring books featuring Winnie, “Winnie Tours the Kentucky State Capitol” and “Winnie Goes on a Kentucky State Parks Adventure.” Both are available for download.

TeachingBooks Now Available Across Kentucky
TeachingBooks is designed to help students from kindergarten through high school learn more about their favorite books and authors while also enhancing reading comprehension and instruction.

“We want to instill a love of reading in every Kentucky student by helping them find meaningful connections to books,” said TeachingBooks Founder Nick Glass. “Whether in the classroom, library or home, we want students to know these resources are available to them 24/7. And, we want all Kentucky families to feel empowered to encourage reading engagement at home with fun family involvement.” 

TeachingBooks, provided free by the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives (KDLA), currently features over 376,000 resources for approximately 100,000 books for children and young adults.

The available resources include:

• Discussion and activity guides; 
• Read-along audiobook performances; 
• Video book trailers and video recordings of the book being read out loud;
• Book-themed activities, including concentration games, word searches and jigsaw puzzles;  
• Author name pronunciation recordings, featuring more than 3,000 authors who reveal and personalize the backstory about their names; 
• A feature to help discover books similar to others that readers have enjoyed; and more. 

To access TeachingBooks, go to TeachingBooks.net, enter a favorite book, series, author or subject in the search box, and begin exploring! Public libraries that wish to initiate customized access for their library should visit TeachingBooks.net/KYSetup. For questions about TeachingBooks, call 800-596-0710 (option 2) or email accounts@TeachingBooks.net.

Statewide TeachingBooks access is provided using existing agency funds from the Library Services Division of KDLA and is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

First Lady Helps Kentucky Students Learn and Grow Through Reading
The First Lady has made it a priority to instill a love of reading in Kentucky’s students, visiting classrooms across the commonwealth each year to read with children. The Beshears are also committed to helping young Kentuckians access the books they need to learn and grow.

In August, the Governor and First Lady celebrated the statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that provides Kentucky children one free book per month, from birth to age 5. All Kentucky families can now sign their infant and preschool children up at ImaginationLibrary.com.

In March, the Governor, the First Lady and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman shared video recordings of read-aloud stories with Kentucky children as part of Read Across America Week.

In September, Mrs. Beshear was named Honorary Chair of the 2024 Kentucky Book Festival.

The Beshears are proud, longtime volunteers with Family Scholar House, which was founded in Kentucky and has built a national model for helping single parents pursue their education. Last week, the Governor joined the organization’s leaders to break ground on their new campus in Elizabethtown.

Mrs. Beshear also encouraged Kentuckians to shop in Kentucky bookstores and read books by Kentucky authors as part of the “New Kentucky Home” initiative Gov. Beshear launched in November to celebrate what makes the commonwealth special and attract business, tourism and future residents to Kentucky.

Throughout the year, she encourages Kentuckians to explore their local libraries.

About TeachingBooks
TeachingBooks is the two-time recipient of the “Association of School Libraries Best Digital Tool of the Year for Teaching and Learning” (2024 and 2020). In 2021, TeachingBooks was awarded the “Common Sense Selection for Learning” as a best-in-class resource for students and educators. The service is available to more than 25 million students worldwide in more than 55,000 schools, public libraries and higher education institutions. TeachingBooks, founded in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2000 and acquired by OverDrive in October 2021, received more than 115 million clicks, investigations and searches last year. The service complements OverDrive’s Sora and Libby reading apps, which are popular in Kentucky schools and libraries. For more information, please visit TeachingBooks.net. 

About KDLA
The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA), located at 300 Coffee Tree Road in Frankfort, is an agency of the Education and Labor Cabinet. KDLA provides many services in support of libraries, archives, records management, state employees, and the blind and print disabled through the Kentucky Talking Book Library. For more information, please visit kdla.ky.gov.