Literacy Night is sponsored by the Newport Rotary Club for Newport Head Start children and families. In collaboration with the Newport Public Library and CSC Head Start, the event promotes literacy and library use.
The evening includes a tour of the library, children’s story time, library cards for families who apply, dinner, and art activities. Rotarians prepare and supply the meal for the evening, and act as tour guides. The Rotary club even purchases a children’s book for each of the Newport Head Start families.
This year, the Rotary is including Cubby Preschool children and families from Newport High School.
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| Lincoln County Commissioner Bill Hall reads to Head Start students |
Newport Head Start teachers all attend and participate in activities with their families. Head Start Teaching Assistant Cecilia Aguero volunteers year-round at the library for children’s story time, reading stories in Spanish with supervising and children’s librarian Rebecca Cohen. Cecilia and Rebecca will do children’s story time for the Literacy Night event.
Rebecca also comes to Head Start once a month and reads to children. Lincoln City children’s librarian Teena Nelson also reads monthly in the Lincoln City Head Start classrooms. Toledo Head Start is fortunate to have Toledo Public Library right across the street, and classes take walking field trips to hear story time in the library. CSC Head Start treasures its local libraries and wonderful librarians.
Rebecca and Director Ted Smith are instrumental library staff members in hosting and participating in the event.
Rotarian Dick Fowler created and printed a brochure for the event in English and Spanish. A conscious effort is made to recruit bilingual volunteers to ensure Spanish-speaking families are welcomed and full participants in the evening.
The Newport Rotary Club has made what could have been a one-off event into an annual one. CSC Head Start so appreciates the ongoing collaboration with Newport Rotary Club, and looks forward to a shared literacy night with another early childhood education program in the community.
