Posted by Roselle Agner, Mid-South Regional Director



The following blog post is from Tim Stewart working with the Belmont (University) Volunteers for Literacy to run a drive:

For the past 2 years, Belmont Volunteers for Literacy, a student run group dedicated to improving literacy among children and adults in the Nashville community through educating students about the problem of illiteracy and involving students in literacy tutoring, has participated in the Better World Books Book Drive in order to assist in funding their annual Family Literacy Day.

Belmont’s Annual Family Literacy Day, which was begun in the spring of 2000, is designed to celebrate the joys of reading with children and their parents in our community. Serving as a culmination of the various ongoing tutoring and service projects that students are engaged in throughout the school year, the event involves more than 150 student volunteers and engages 200 – 300 children annually. Student groups organize “Reading Circles” with different themes. One fraternity, for example, dresses up like pirates and reads pirate stories. Nursing students have done health themes and read fun children’s books about the importance of taking care of our bodies.

In addition to the Reading Circles, we have reading related games and crafts and the children can get their faces painted like their favorite character in a book. Refreshments and door prizes round out the festivities and each child has the opportunity to choose a book or two to take home from a large collection of books donated by a local literacy organization.

Though additional funding is necessary to put on the event, the portion we receive from our Fall and Spring Book Drives provides a significant contribution to our efforts. We are pleased to be able to support literacy initiatives both globally and locally through our partnership with Better World Books.

Sincerely,
Tim Stewart