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Literacy partners place sharing library at local park

Literacy Council, school district, and Recreation & Parks Dept. create a hub for literacy and leisure

The Bulloch County Literacy Council in partnership with Bulloch County Recreation & Parks and Bulloch County Schools placed a sharing library at Luetta Moore Park in Statesboro, on Monday, Nov. 18, in a special dedication ceremony at 10 a.m., outside the park's Jones-Love Cultural Center. 

Luetta Moore Park sharing library dedication

"Luetta Moore Park is a great location to jump-start our outside sharing library initiative," said Crystal Simpkins, early learning director for Bulloch County Schools and a coordinator for the Literacy Council's multiple projects. "Placing shared libraries like this around the community reduces obstacles that children and families may have that limit their access to books."Recreation & Parks Director Dee Cosby agrees. In his remarks during the ceremony, he shared that in 1964 Luetta Moore had established a lending library at the park that now bears her name. 

The sharing libraries, which were created from refurbished newspaper boxes that were donated by the Statesboro Herald, are an extension of the Bulloch County Schools Book Bus, and even mirror the book mobile's design thanks to assistance from Whitfield Signs. They will be regularly stocked with free books that are appropriate for preschool through fifth-grade children. They will also feature a selection of books in Spanish. 

Sharing libraries

 

The Luetta Moore Park placement is the first of seven that will be placed in familiar and frequented locations around the county. The goal is to make it easier for families and children to pick up a free book to take home, read, and keep. Additional sharing libraries will be placed at Boro Sno in Statesboro, Lanier's IGA in Portal, and El Maguey in Brooklet. Funding for the sharing libraries and their book inventories are made possible in part by a Community Transformation Grant from the Georgia Department of Education and local sponsors. 

Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson, Literacy Council members, and other Bulloch County and school district staff were in attendance at the ceremony. The Parks & Recreation Department is an active early learning and literacy partner with its afterschool programs at each of the school district's nine elementary schools and its creation of a Lit Club for students in second and fifth grades which focuses on strengthening literacy skills. 

"When books are readily available, children and adults have more opportunities to develop their reading skills," Simpkins added. "This will help build those home libraries."

sharing libraries



Who is the Bulloch County Literacy Council?
The Bulloch County Literacy Council is a collaborative group of educators, representatives from literacy organizations, business and civic organization leaders, and community volunteers. Its purpose is to sustain a community collaborative that works to increase Kindergarten readiness for students from birth through Pre-Kindergarten and to support the improvement of literacy levels for all children in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Bulloch County Schools' Director of Early Learning, Crystal Simpkins, serves as a member of the Literacy Council and coordinates special projects, partnerships, and corporate sponsorships for the Council.

The Literacy Council's Bulloch READ initiative:

  • Reading:  Encourage the creation of Reading nooks.

  • Environment: Encourage a literacy-rich Environment.

  • Access: Increase Access to book and reading resources.

  • Development: Increase early brain Development.