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Center for the Book, Viburnum Foundation Boost Local Literacy EffortsRepresentatives from 12 states are set to converge in Washington, D.C., July 21–23 to map out a course for the new “Reading Powers the Mind” initiative of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. Supported with a $409,000 gift from the Viburnum Foundation, the family literacy program involves 12 pilot projects developed by libraries in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.The objective of the training launch is to put librarians and their community partners together with representatives from key agencies—including the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Child Welfare League of America, Head Start, the National Black Child Development Institute, the Aspira Association, and the Council for Exceptional Children. They can learn from one another “to make early childhood literacy a top priority for teachers, parents and other caregivers, agency personnel, even the courts, in their communities,” said Virginia Mathews, project manager and Center for the Book consultant. Another Center for the Book/Viburnum Foundation effort from 1998 to 2003 gave $3,000 grants directly to 222 small rural libraries in 10 states, while the Center for the Book offered training workshops for participating libraries. Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole said the new projects will build on those successes, since participants in “Reading Powers the Mind” were handpicked based on the success of earlier projects. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.Mex.) is scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Posted May 21, 2004. |
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