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Lake County Literacy Task Force selects new initiatives for 2013
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Literacy Task Force is pursuing several new initiatives in the coming year as it pursues the goal that everyone in the county – young, adults and elders – not only be able to read, but desire to read.
The task force, established in 2011, represents educators and business and community leaders, and is focused on supporting countywide literacy activities and initiatives.
The group views literacy as a fundamental foundation of freedom, democracy, personal satisfaction, and a contribution to one’s society and personal life, and believes that everyone who has a desire to read should have an avenue to become literate.
The group has selected the following four initiatives that will drive the focus of the group in the coming year.
The Big Read
The Big Read began with a matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The inaugural annual effort was held in October 2011 and focused on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Activities included film festivals, events and book clubs around the county.
Planning is now under way for the next Big Read initiative, slated for October 2013.
For more information and to get involved, contact Robin Shrive at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Lake County Reads
Modeled after the successful Kelseyville Sunrise Rotary Club Reading Program, now in its sixth year, Lake County Reads inspires volunteerism and reading both from service club/organization members and high school students, who together volunteer to read to students each week in a elementary school classroom.
The selected books are then donated to the school and help build a library and a love for reading for the students.
The long-term vision for this initiative is that every elementary school in Lake County has a sponsored Lake County Reads program.
For more information on Lake County Reads, contact Wally Holbrook at 707-262-4100.
Schools of Hope
This pilot program partners with Lakeport Unified School District and United Way.
Volunteers are trained and then spend 30 minutes in the elementary school classroom each week tutoring students throughout the school year.
The program is focused on middle to low readers in the primary grades.
For more information and to volunteer, email Janine Smith-Citron at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-262-5628.
Imagination Library
For a $25 annual sponsorship, one child will receive one high quality, hard cover book per month, delivered to their home.
The program promotes reading through the active participation of the parents.
The Literacy Task Force is launching the program by sponsoring 100 children, and community members and organizations can participate by sponsoring children.
The program goal is to sponsor each child from birth through 5 years, inspiring a love of reading by receiving a book in their home each month.
The final book each child receives sends them off to kindergarten with an exciting book about starting school.
For more information on the Imagination Library contact Shelly Mascari at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Literacy Task Force meets approximately one time per month at Lake County Office of Education in Lakeport.
It welcomes participation from anyone who shares its vision of expanding literacy.
For more information and to get involved, contact Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook at 707-262-4100 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .