Reaching Out

Family Literacy Outreach Initiative

    Fairfax County Public Library Foundation, through grants from The Philip Graham Fund and an anonymous foundation, has established a family literacy outreach program, based on the Motheread®/Fatheread® model, for preschool children and their families in five targeted areas of Fairfax County.

Motheread®/Fatheread® is an award-winning national program using outstanding multicultural literature to help parents and caregivers effectively use the power of stories to:

* improve parenting and literacy skills
* build critical thinking skills
* increase family communication
* address challenging family issues

Parents, grandparents and caregivers, regardless of formal educational background or economic situation, join in small groups with trained instructors to read children's books and discuss themes and ideas conveyed in stories. Afterwards, they are better prepared to share these stories with their children and to talk about the issues raised in the books.

Children take part in separate storysharing sessions in which they learn to approach books as companions and sources of inspiration through creative games, artwork and role-playing.

Together, through classics such as Where the Wild Things Are, The Runaway Bunny, Wings, Ferdinand, Mother Tell Me A Story and many new titles, families are able to address fears, doubts, loss, uncertainty, financial and emotional stress and prejudice.

Motheread®/Fatheread® programs are springing up in Fairfax County with the Library Foundation creating partnerships with Head Start Centers, Community Resource Centers, Teen parenting groups, Health Care Agencies, Faith Communities, Adult Education classes, Immigrant and Refugee Service Agencies, Neighborhood Centers and Local and County Government Agencies.

Storytime is a powerful time! Not only are children learning a new language and new vocabulary but they are learning to connect with others while safely addressing many issues arising within their families and communities. We know that parents and caregivers make the best role models for children; that children who are read to become successful students; that good reading skills enable families to be economically secure. We know that strong families make strong communities.

If you would like to become involved in this exciting, initiative, contact , Director of Community Outreach at 703-324-8339.

Honorariums and Memorial Gifts

   An increasing number of donors choose to honor or memorialize a special friend or family member by making a gift in their name. For instance, two patrons recognized their grandson's 5th birthday with a gift to purchase children's books. One family set up a memorial fund through the Foundation to honor the memory of their father, a bibliophile who enjoyed countless hours researching and reading books at Fairfax County Public Library.

Shelley A. Marshall Storytelling Series

Another special memorial in the donor's words:

     "My wife is one of the heroes lost in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. On the evening of the 14th, as thousands of Americans held a candlelight vigil for our fallen heroes, I received a telephone call informing me that rescue workers had entered Shelley's section of the Pentagon and there were no survivors. On September 15th, a grief counselor said four words that changed the direction of my life: 'Give your sorrow meaning.' I established a foundation, placing Shelley's retirement savings and the donations of well wishers in an irrevocable trust which funds activities that mirror her interests. Children's storytelling hours at Patrick Henry Library in Vienna, where Shelley grew up, are a direct reflection of her love of reading to our children. Shelley used to get up at 4:30 a.m., work a nine-hour day with a two-hour commute, and still make time to read to our son and daughter before putting them to bed.

Reading to Drake (4) and Chandler (2) was about the spark she saw in their eyes& a spark of curiosity, imagination, and creativity yet to be unleashed& a spark that can change a life, and change the world."

While many charities clothe and feed a body, The Shelley A. Marshall Foundation's activities are designed to inspire and enrich the spirit by stimulating creativity and compassion - to make lives extraordinary!"

-Donn Marshall

"We have only a finite number of days on this earth -
make them extraordinary and fill them with passion . . . "
Shelley A. Marshall

     
   Fairfax County Public Fairfax County Public Library Foundation, Inc. welcomed Rachel Byington as the Outreach Program Coordinator for the Check Out Springfield! initiative. This internship was made possible through a grant of the 2004 ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program.

Rachel developed and coordinated an 8-week program to work directly with children in selected community locations, bringing them story programs and information about the Library, and hosted them at the library for tours and Internet programs. This student of the Randolph-Macon Womans College made weekly visits to groups to present story programs and crafts suitable for preschoolers and early elementary students. She distributed Summer Reading Program materials and other library information, and enhanced the deposit book collection at selected sites. Library tours with the distribution of library cards were encouraged as well in neighborhoods surrounding the Richard Byrd Community Library.

Thank you, ExxonMobil!

Connections - A Research and Demonstration Project Modeling Public Library Services for Residents in Congregate (Assistive) Living

     The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), individual contributors, and the Library jointly funded a two-year research and demonstration project through the Foundation that explored the use of volunteers and technology to overcome barriers faced by people with limited mobility, sight, hearing, and dexterity impairments. This Partnership project included the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, The Catholic University of America Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and Goodwin House West.