Promoting literacy through service projects
Abstract
In an effort to encourage literacy and connect with families, an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow partnered with Sonoma County service providers to organize a book drive and service project to build and stock 75 family bookshelves for families and schools. The family-bookshelf project was part of a four-day celebration honoring the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This effective practice was submitted by Pam Nirdlinger, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow for the Sonoma Regional Service Collaborative.Issue
Encouraging literacy at home can be difficult when few books are available in the home to children.Action
In partnership with the Youth Volunteer Corps of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee conducted book drives for several weeks preceding Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. AmeriCorps members collected 2,200 books and the teen-agers from the Youth Volunteer Corps collected 2,800 books for a total of 5,000 donated books.
On the Saturday before Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the books were brought to a local school. Wood was bought, precut and fashioned for bookshelves. The teen-agers and AmeriCorps members constructed 75 bookshelves and stocked them with books from the book drive. Sixty-five of the bookshelves went to nine schools in the Project SCHOLARS reading program. The other ten went to the Volunteer Center, which also has a literacy program. Each bookshelf was then donated to families, selected by the schools, with a gift tag expressing a sentiment to encourage reading. Most of the families had children in the Project SCHOLARS or after-school COOL SCHOOL program.
The remaining books were donated to the literacy program, given to teachers as resources or given to children in the program. The adult books were distributed to other agencies such as waiting rooms or hospice programs.
Context
The book drive and family bookshelf service project involved sixty-seven AmeriCorps members, ten AmeriCorps*VISTA members, twenty-seven Youth Volunteer Corps members, four Retired and Senior Volunteer Program volunteers, four community members and five school staff members. Two businesses donated supplies for the bookshelves.
The book project was one of four days spent celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in Sonoma County, California in 2001. Community Baptist Church, a local African-American church, chaired the Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration Committee. The other events during the four-day celebration included:
- A poetry night with original poetry written by local children in literacy programs.
- A birthday celebration at a local community center, which included an oratory contest, speeches, choirs and individual performing artists.
- A day-long symposium and picnic with information on health, career, and citizen's rights.
Outcome
The book drive encouraged literacy, rewarded the efforts of the children and brought the service providers closer to the families.Posted On
April 24, 2001For More Information