The Summerton Literacy Council has donated 200 books to the Emmanuel Child Care Center as part of its mission to help local children read and succeed.
“We are grateful for this wonderful gift of books that will help our children increase their love for learning and books,” said Vivian Morrow, the center’s director. “We are excited to incorporate the books into our learning activities and make them available to our children in the classroom. The children are excited as well.”
The Summerton Literacy Council presented the books to Morrow and the children she serves during a special story time led by Harvin Clarendon County Library Executive Director Charlotte Johnston. The council also provided each child an age-appropriate book to take home, as well as information on literacy and ways that parents can incorporate literacy into everyday activities.
“It’s wonderful to see how our local leaders are coming together for the sake of our children’s future," said Shemika Williams of Save the Children, a non-profit organization that runs local early literacy programs and which helped organize the Summerton Literacy Council. "We know that early literacy lays the foundation for success in school and beyond, so these efforts will really pay off for our kids and our community as a whole.”
The council is comprised of local parents as well as business, educational, social service and faith-based leaders committed to increasing children’s early learning and literacy opportunities in Clarendon County. The council is part of a literacy initiative funded by a federal Innovative Approaches to Literacy grant (IAL). Save the Children and Reach Out and Read, two nonprofit organizations already working in Summerton and other communities, partnered together to improve children’s literacy and preparedness for school locally and across the country. Through this partnership, they were awarded the IAL grant to address literacy in rural communities.
In Clarendon County, the partnership has distributed more than 1,000 books to children at community events and the Summerton Literacy Council has installed five reading corners around the community that give children the chance to enjoy a variety of books. They are located at Pearson’s Barbershop, the Clarendon County Department of Social Services, the Clarendon School District One Resource Center, the Clarendon County Family Court Building, and the Clarendon Behavioral Health Services.
The literacy council also recently hosted a Back to School Bash in Summerton to provide families with school supplies and other resources that will help local children have a successful school year.
For more information about early literacy resources for your group or family, please contact Community Literacy Manager Shemika Williams at (803) 847-9169 or shwilliams@savechildren.org.
Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood — every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Reach Out and Read reaches families with young children at routine health checkups. Doctors encourage parents to look at books with their infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers, and give new books to the children to take home and keep.
