September 4, 1998
Contact:
Press Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
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