Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Kinderhook Memorial Library now has a one-of-a-kind collection of books to help children with dyslexia learn to read. “They are designed to support literacy development of those who are learning to read,” Kinderhook Memorial Library Director AnnaLee Dragon said. “They use this different structure, science-based phonics approach, that teaches children to decode words by understanding phonics and syllables and morphology ...” The decodable reader books can also be useful for anyone learning to read. The Kinderhook collection is the only one of its kind in the five-county Mid-Hudson Library System and it includes hundreds of books. The purchase of the books was funded with a $2,000 grant from the Berkshire Taconic Foundation Fund for Columbia County. A library patron also personally raised more than $7,500 in additional funds to acquire the full set. Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability referring to a cluster of symptoms that result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. It is estimated that between 5 and 10 percent of the population has dyslexia, but the number could be as high as 17 percent, Dragon said. The new books will be available to the public in the next few weeks. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.