By Susan Tolley
Staff reporter
The children in the pre-kindergarten classes at Mayberry Learning Center in Elkin were especially excited about Thursday’s visit from Rebecca Southern.
She was there as part of an effort by the Friends of the Elkin Public Library, which started a Share-a-Book project in 1990 as a way to promote early childhood literacy and introduce children to reading and libraries at a very crucial time in their cognitive development.
For her part, Southern, the Elkin Public Library’s Literacy Outreach Coordinator, visits this and other childcare centers in southern Surry County twice a month. She reads stories and interacts with the children using finger plays and crafts during programs built around books. The goal is to make books come to life by giving each child their very own book to share with family members and to encourage literacy at home.
“I’ve been involved with this program for a little over two years. I worked with children in a childcare facility before doing this. I love interacting with them. It’s nice to see their reaction when I read to them,” said Southern. “They’re glad to see me, which tugs at my heart.”
About the program/
organizations
A coordinator based at the Mount Airy Public Library serves the northern half of Surry County. The literacy outreach positions are funded through a grant from Surry County Early Childhood
Partnership, Inc., a Smart Start agency promoting the healthy development of children ages 0-5. Smart Start is a public-private initiative that provides early education funding to North Carolina’s 100 counties.
• The Friends of the Elkin Public Library has received a grant of $ 1,000 from the 2008 Elkin Funds of The Winston-Salem Foundation to purchase books for its annual Share-a-Book project. Through this program, the Friends group gives books to children aged 5 years and younger that are enrolled in childcare centers throughout southern Surry County. The grant was matched with $500 from Literacy for a Lifetime matching grant program. With these monies, 330 books have been purchased as gifts for the area children.
• The Friends of the Elkin Public Library is a non-profit group that raises funds for library projects and that advocates for the library in the community.
• The Winston-Salem Foundation is a community foundation that supports charitable programs in the greater Forsyth County area. Founded in 1919 by Colonel Francis Fries with a $1000 gift, it now administers over 1,100 funds with total custodial assets of over $280 million. In 2006 the Foundation granted more than $30 million to charitable causes, $1.9 million of which was in competitive grants. • The Elkin Funds are in its 22nd year of operation and consist of three component trusts established by Richard T. Chatham, Lucy Hanes Chatham, and the citizens of Elkin to benefit the tri-county area of Wilkes, Surry, and Yadkin counties, particularly in the area bounded by Dobson, Boonville, Hamptonville, Roaring River, and Thurmond.
• Literacy for a Lifetime partners with Education Development Corporation (EDC) and businesses and foundations to support local educational institutions. EDC is a leading publisher of children’s non-fiction books. The popular books are marketed under the name of Usborne Books.
For more information on the funding bodies, see:
•www.wsfoundation.org
•www.literacyforalifetime.com
•www.literacyforalifetime.org
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