JULY 23, 2009 ISSUE
Read-In at the Mall August 8
The Rotary Club of Boone, Price Reading Council and Boone Mall management will sponsor the 3rd annual Read-In at the Mall at the mall’s center court from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 8.
“Rotary International and the International Reading Association have a partnership to promote literacy,” said Sharon Canipe, event chair and Rotary Club of Boone member. “This is what we’ve decided to do in Boone as a project related to the goal of promoting literacy for all children.”
Local author, musician and schoolteacher Joe Shannon will attend the first hour of the event and read his children’s book, Tennis Shoe Love. Parkway Publishing donated a number of copies of the book, which will be given to children in attendance while supplies last.
“We’re very pleased…Joe has agreed to come read his book and sign copies to kick off the event,” Canipe said.
The event will also feature costumed storybook characters and celebrity readers, including Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson and Watauga County Commissioner Jim Deal.
Volunteer readers from the community are also an important part of the event.
“We welcome volunteers,” Canipe said. “We’re recruiting readers right now. I hope we’re going to have 10 or 12 [volunteer readers] throughout the four hours of the event. We need that many, I think, to keep it going.”
Children in attendance will be given tickets for drawings for gift certificates to various Boone Mall businesses. The drawings will be held regularly throughout the event. Some certificates can be redeemed at any store within the mall, while others are for a specific store or restaurant.
Under the event’s broad purpose of promoting literacy lies a more specific goal of emphasizing the importance of reading to children, even after they are able to read themselves.
“All of the research on reading emphasizes that children who are read to regularly become good readers,” Canipe said. “It’s an important component of their growth and literacy, and it’s fun…that’s the idea we want to share.”
Waldenbooks is lending some books for use at the Read-In, and volunteer readers who have favorite children’s books are welcome to bring those, as well.
The Read-In falls on Tax-Free Weekend, and “that’s one of the reasons we selected that date,” Canipe said. “It’s a time when a lot of parents and children are out.”
Parents and children are encouraged to come to the Read-In to take a break from their shopping, she added.
For more information or to volunteer for a half-hour- or hour-long slot as a volunteer reader, call Canipe at 828-264-5090.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, August 8
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Boone Mall’s center court
Cost: Free
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