For nearly a decade, two international organizations—the International Reading Association (IRA) and Rotary International (RI)—have worked together to promote literacy at both the community and international levels. Members of both groups were urged to celebrate International Literacy Day on September 8 by creating a local Rotary–IRA literacy relationship.

The IRA–RI Special Interest Group (SIG) of IRA, established in 2007, was formed to foster the tenets of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by officers of both organizations in 2002. The memorandum was revised and renewed in 2005 and again in 2008.

Recognizing the important role literacy plays in improving lives and empowering people, Rotary’s leaders have committed to supporting literacy and education initiatives.

Some recent partnerships include projects that target children and families from Tennessee to  Australia and in between.

Books for Babies

Most researchers agree that parents and caregivers play an important role in the development of early literacy skills in infants and toddlers; however, many parents of young children do not understand that importance or the simple joy of speaking and reading to their babies

In California, Chula Vista Sunrise Rotary and the Greater San Diego Reading Association (GSDRA), a local council of the California Reading Association, worked together to choose and buy books for backpacks that are delivered to local hospitals. Each backpack for the parents and newborn is filled with baby books, nursery rhymes and other storybooks, and pointers for parents on the importance of reading to their baby.

The groups’ volunteers serve five hospitals, with 25 families in each, two to three times a year. Consistent communication with hospital staff has been key to the success of this effort, according to Penny Ann Cline of GSDRA. For more information on Books for Babies, contact Cline at pcline6@cox.net, or Rotary Club of Chula Vista Sunrise through Thomas Miller at temiller@cox.net.

Tales from a Dilly Bag

A dilly bag is a traditional Australian Aboriginal woven fiber bag used by indigenous women for carrying food. A Rotary District 9600 literacy project adopted the name and filled its dilly bags with storybooks distributed in Queensland, Australia.

The project supports young indigenous students and their classmates as they develop emergent literacy skills. A “dilly bag kit” comes with 55 picture storybooks, craft materials, activity sheets to go with the stories, scrapbooks, a digital camera, and a teacher’s folder donated by a Rotary club to a kinder-garten or school where indigenous Australian children are enrolled. A practical resource, the dilly bag kit provides younger students with enhanced oppor-tunities for listening to stories, discussing them with older student mentors, and working together on creative responses to the literature.

A research scholarship awarded by the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) for 2009–2010 provided an opportunity for a class teacher to work with a university partner to investigate how young indigenous students and older student reading mentors engaged with the dilly bag stories in a school setting.

Researchers found that the older student reading mentors reflected deeply on their responsibilities as mentors and clearly saw themselves as role models for younger students. The younger students also enjoyed the story-sharing experience and developed emergent literacy skills. Closer social relationships between the older and younger students were observed both during the mentoring sessions and on the playground.

For further information about the Tales From a Dilly Bag project contact Janelle Young, jyoung14@gmail.com

Imagination Library

Lakeway Reading Council, a local chapter of the Tennessee Reading Association, has been involved with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program since it first began. Members have volunteered their time, talents, and money to support the program.

They have worked on a variety of projects, including the Imagination Library Bus when it has been part of the Christmas Parade, Imagination Library Week activities, visits to Girls Inc. and the Girls and Boys Club, Boo in the Park, Bucks for Books, and after-school extended day cares. Members have sold tickets to an Imagination Library Breakfast and volunteered at a pancake breakfast to raise money for the program. Some of Lakeway’s members are on the Imagination Library Advisory Council.

Eva Thompson, district reading specialist for the Hamblen County Department of Education, has a cable television program, provided free by Charter Cable. During this program, “Miss Eva, the Reading Engineer” reads books from the Imagination Library Program. “Since Dolly’s theme for the program is a train, I wear a train engineer’s outfit,” said Thompson. “Oh, the things I do to promote reading!”

The Rotary Club of Morristown AM has participated in the Hamblen County Imagination Library program since 2005. The club contributes $1,500 yearly, presents a program on the library to its members each year, volunteers in events and activities, and identifies children to receive Imagination Library books that have been returned because the original recipients moved from the area. Imagination Library partners try to get these books into the hands of children who can benefit from receiving books, said club member Tish Jones.

The club also supports and volunteers at ED/EX, a yearly initiative to provide classroom supplies to teachers for at-risk students, the high school leadership classes, and Junior Achievement. All  are aimed at improving the quality of education for children in Hamblen County.

IRA–Rotary partnerships promote literacy locally and globally (October 2010). Reading Today, 28(2), 9.