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Read Across America visits Vol State

Volunteer State Community College is celebrating “Read Across America” by hosting a book drive. The book drive started Feb. 14 and will continue through Mar. 4. There are drop off boxes inside Wood, SRB, Ramer, Pickle, Thigpen Library, and Caudill Hall on the Gallatin campus. Each drop off box will be by the entrance doors to each building, except for the SRB which will be located on the second floor.

According to the Vol State campus events calendar  the purpose of the book drive is to provide low-income children with books. The target preschools for this book drive are Community Childcare, Gallatin Day Care Center, and Gallatin Child Care & Head Start.  These books will be delivered by Vol State students.

“Overall the nation is in a literacy crisis due to COVID 19 and virtual learning gaps. This effort meets a need in the lives of our children and families in this community.” said Penelope Duncan, Early childhood education faculty and department chair at Vol State. According to Duncan, Vol State education and early childhood students started visiting low-income childcare centers in 2017, reading to children to promote early literacy and to celebrate “Read Across America”. In 2018, English faculty joined and has grown into a five-year interdisciplinary service learning project for Vol State students.

A campus wide effort to support literacy growth in the community collected more than 500 used books in 2019. “The theme for this year is Create and Celebrate a Nation of Diverse Readers that include books that students can see themselves reflected in, as well as books that allow readers to see a world or a character that might be different than them.” said Duncan.

“Read Across America” is a literacy effort initiated by National Education Association (NEA) in 1998. It originated from well- known author Dr. Seuss.

For more info regarding the book drive contact Penny Duncan @ penelope.duncan@volstate.edu

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