By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A group in St. Joseph is working to encourage reading and literacy among children.
St. Joseph Reads chairperson Carol Burns says the program, which launched in March, aims to help improve the lives of the community through reading.
"Reading is the foundation of all knowledge and learning, so it's the basic building block of all education, so without reading then you really struggle to learn science, to learn math, to learn any other type of subject," Burns tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "So, it really is critical that children and adults have a good foundation in reading, and of course literacy includes the ability to write as well."
Burns says one of the biggest things the program promotes is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to help push more children towards reading.
St. Joseph Reads also worked with the St. Joseph Mustangs this past summer where players came to talk and read with kids and handed out free books.
Burns says some of the goals of the program are to get kids excited about reading.
"I think they'll find that it is fun, so much of the time kids equate reading with school, and it's something they have to do," Burns explains. "So, to really sit down and open a book that they want to read and to get involved in something like that on their own, we need another Harry Potter series I think to get their noses back in books all the time."
Burns says in the United States the literacy rate is low compared to other countries, which is why an initiative like this is important to help spread the importance of reading.
One recent initiative, Burns says, was the first annual community read, where copies of 'A Deceptive Homecoming' by Anna Loan Wilsey were distributed
"Chose that as our first book and mostly because it's a relatively quick read but it also takes place in St. Joseph in 1893," Burns says.
The book follows the main character Hattie Davish as she comes back home to St. Joseph solving a mystery and visiting several familiar sites such as Mt. Mora Cemtery and Lake Contrary among others
"It really is kind of a fun trip down memory lane for a lot of us that grew up in St. Joseph, a lot of references to the landmarks, some that are still here and some that are not," Burns says. "So, we are encouraging people to read those books and to pass it on."
To celebrate the book St Joseph Reads will be holding Hattie Davish week, going September 17th through the 21st next week, with several fun events planned around the book
You can learn more about the event by clicking HERE.