September 4, 1998

Contact:
Press Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189

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Center for the Book To Hold Family Literacy Workshops in Mississippi and New Mexico

The Center for the Book, with support from the Viburnum Foundation, is sponsoring two regional workshops in September that focus on planning family literacy programs in rural libraries. Held in cooperation with state library agencies and local literacy organizations from seven states, the workshops will take place in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 9 and 10, and in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 16 and 17. More than 50 librarians and literacy advocates will attend each workshop.

Center for the Book consultant Virginia H. Mathews is the workshop organizer. Other participants include Susan Roman, executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association; John Pritchard, Margaret Murray and Jean Hudspeth of the Mississippi Library Commmission; Marsie Cate, director, New Mexico Center for the Book; and Ben Wakashige and Elaine Goodman of the New Mexico State Library.

The Viburnum Family Literacy Project is described in the report, From Thibodaux to Tucumcari: Family Literacy in Rural Libraries, A Report from the Viburnum Family Literacy Project, by Molly Turner and Nancy Kober. The report describes how, with limited resources, committed staff in small libraries can successfully respond to the needs of parents and other care givers for family literacy programs.

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. For information about its activities, visit its site on the World Wide Web at: www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

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PR 98-141
9/4/98
ISSN 0731-3527