Judith’s Reading Room is happy to share this wonderful news from Alif Laila..
Dear Friends,
Greetings!!
We have been using rickshaws as mobile libraries for some years now, but they were rented for the purpose. A grant from the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan enabled us to make a custom built one.
So happy to share this!!
All set now to bring the joy of books to children in marginalized communities!
Hoping to run a fleet soon đ
Basarat and Alif Laila Society, Freedom Through Literacy 2015 grand prize winner, continues her project in Pakistan. She just sent us some fantastic new photos! Basarat believes that by providing access to quality literature, in a country that spends less than 2% on education, will inspire life-long learners and, most importantly, develop positive attitudes so critical for a tolerant society. Convinced that books are change agents and that libraries for children are places of independent research, critical thinking and imagination power houses, Basarat sets a determined and noteworthy commitment to literacy in Pakistan.
On November 4th of 2011, an amazing journey started. Through my affiliation with the Charitable Organization Judithâs Reading Room I was able to establish a mobile book cart at Fox Chase Cancer Center. A little red cart and 13 boxes of books has grown to books being available on the cart which is taken from room to room by a volunteer, as well book cases filled everywhere you go throughout Fox Chase Cancer Center.
This all started while my Father was a patient. I saw a need and was fortunate enough to be able, through my affiliation with Judithâs Reading Room, to fill it. In 2015, Judithâs Reading Room took the charity in another direction, but through the connections Cathy Leiber helped established I was able to carry on donating books which I collect from various locations. To date over 8100 books have been donated for the patients, family & friends who are spending time at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
The remuneration is seeing people lost in a book when I make a drop, as well as people stopping me as I am unloading and letting me know how much having access to a good book has meant to them while they are either in treatment or waiting by a loved oneâs side.
I do not do this alone, I have a few friends in particular who are there every year to help at the AAUW Book sale which Cathy introduced me too, My Good friend Ann Shanley and her Husband Ed Brett have helped me load literally thousands of books to be trucked to Fox Chase Cancer Center, as well as my good friend Maureen Burris who has helped me sort and collect thousands of books as well.
Lee Hornick
#foxchase
#judithsreadingroom
East Java is a place where a great story of a great story of IMPACT is told, starting with a seed and watching it grow.
Arif Darmawan is an 2015 Freedom Through Literacy Award HONORABLE MENTIONS winner. At the time of the award, Arif was credited with helping promote literacy and education by developing 55 libraries with more than 42,000 books and programs that plant the seeds of leadership, environmental consciousness and community connection in East Java, Indonesia through the organization The World is Just a Book Away. These libraries impacted 28,000 Indonesian school children.
NOW, WIJABA is working in close partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), WIJABA is in the process of introducing the Jane Goodall Institute’s “Roots & Shoots” environmental awareness program across WIJABA network libraries in Sidoarjo (East Java) and Padang (West Sumatra), Indonesia.
#wijaba
@RootsandShoots
#bookschangelives
#FreedomThroughLiteracy
#FTLaward2019
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Cathy Leiber
Literacy Non Profit Dedicates its 97th Library
Judithâs Reading Room libraries are now found in 20 countries
March 25, 2019 â Lehigh Valley, Pa. Judithâs Reading Room, established in 2010 to honor the memory and legacy of Judith F. Krug, a librarian, announced today that it has established a library containing over 400 books in the mountainous town of Zambrano in the Central American country of the Republic of Honduras.
Lafayette College Librarian, Ana Luhrs, a former member of the board of directors of Judithâs Reading Room, recently led a group of Lafayette students to build a curated library for exceptional women selected by village elders to attend The Leadership Center (TLC) in Zambrano. Ana used the funds she was awarded as a winner of the organizationâs 2018 Freedom Through Literacy Award to purchase books, among them autobiographies of women, and to create a culture of reading for pleasure.
âAccess to information beyond the classroom allows students to take ownership of their educational journey,â said Luhrs. âLibrary collections, especially well-curated collections, provide a variety of perspectives beyond that of a classroom textbook and an instructor,â she added.
âJudithâs Reading Room stands with the dozens of young women hand-picked to learn management and leadership skills at TLC so that they can become highly productive leaders in their country,â said Cathy Leiber, Co-Founder, Judithâs Reading Room. âThanks to Ana Luhrs, having a library at TLC which is packed with books to encourage a love of reading, students will be able to explore the world when there is little opportunity to leave their country,â added Leiber.
Since 2010, Judithâs Reading Room has dedicated 97 libraries in 20 countries. The organization sponsors the Freedom Through Literacy Award which has disbursed $29,000 in awards to 25 individual champions of literacy. Additional information and the application for the 2019 Award can be found at www.JudithsReadingRoom.org/freedom-through-literacy-award/
Spread the word about Judith’s Reading Room’s 2019 Freedom Through Literacy Award by sharing and posting our flyer. Please download the flyer to print
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Cathy Leiber484-661-6151
www.JudithsReadingRoom.org
Judithâs Reading Room Seeks Applicants for its
2019 Freedom Through Literacy Award
January 21, 2019 â Lehigh Valley, Pa. Judithâs Reading Room, a 501 (c) 3 literacy organization founded in 2010, announced today that applications for its 2019 Freedom Through Literacy Award can be found online at www.JudithsReadingRoom.org/APPLY. The prestigious award, that honors multiple winners, carries a total cash prize of $4,500. Deadline for submission of applications is July 1, 2019.
The annual Freedom Through Literacy Award â the signature element of Judithâs Reading Room â is open to individual champions of literacy including teachers, librarians, authors, researchers, educators and literacy nonprofits â anyone who has done exemplary work to instill in others a love of reading.
In addition to the $3,000 Grand Prize, the Judithâs Award worth $500, is limited to teachers, librarians and/or authors, who are also eligible to win the Grand Prize. The Board Option Award, totaling $1,000, was created to acknowledge the passion of our board members who are constantly on the lookout for individuals doing something exciting in the world of literacy.
Since its inception in 2010, Judithâs Reading Room has dedicated 96 libraries in 19 countries and counting, with 128,000 books donated valued at nearly $1.4 million dollars. Since 2015, The Freedom Through Literacy Award has disbursed $29,000 and has honored 25 individual champions of literacy in the United States, the Philippines, Bhutan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Cambodia and Mexico.
Matthew Weinmann and Julia Dweck (shown here with Ibiyinka Alao)
âRelease Your Firefliesâ is best described as a storytelling-movement. Matthew Weimann and Julia Dweck, two âstellarâ teachers according to their principal, inspired their students in grades 3-5 to interpret Ibiâs true story. The children wrote an award winning picture book entitled, âIbiâs Fireflies,â published by Scholastic. The goal of âRelease Your Firefliesâ is to equip children to navigate the world through storytelling, paving the way for an appreciation of human literature. Matt and Juliaâs project promotes storytelling inside and outside the classroom â nurturing literacy skills, creative thinking, communication, empathy, increased confidence and self-esteem. The duo, described as âtrue pioneers in the pursuit of a global classroom of storytellers,â created a website where teachers can access a library of storytelling curriculum that encourages children to share their stories and reflect on them through prompts and questions. âIbiâs Fireflies,â is under consideration by producer Tim Burton, as a full-length animated feature.
Julia Dweck â “Nelson Mandela once said, âThat we are only people, because of the people.â Â This is the spirit of ubuntu embodied in the Freedom Through Literacy Award. Â Our mission to share stories is a natural extension of this philosophy. Â After all, a story is only a story when there is someone there to listen.â
Matthew Weimann ââWe are super excited to share this project with the world and help students learn and practice great story-telling. This prize will help us achieve our dreams of connecting with teachers and students from all walks of like and roads in distant lands.”
Carin Mileshosky
Fleetwood Area Public Librarian Carin Mileshosky is the driving force behind this communityâs effort to counter-attack the syndrome known as âsummer slideâ where students can lose up to 2 months of learning, adding up to a full year behind grade level by the time they reach 5th grade. Carin constantly champions the fact that a public library has an important role to play in the community. This summer her initiatives attracted over 180 patrons by offering quality service, information and new technology while promoting an early and lifelong love of learning. It is no wonder that the Fleetwood Library earned the PA FORWARD Library Associationâs âGold Star Libraryâ designation. Carin is committed to providing her community with resources, programs, and opportunities to grow as readers â to be inspired, curious and to become successful lifelong learners. She believes that by promoting all facets of literacy, she can provide her patrons the freedom to become whom they want to be and to help make their dreams a reality.
Carin Mileshosky â âAfter graduating from college in 1999, I did not immediately set out to become a Librarian. It was a gradual realization that came about after many years of searching for what I wanted to be when I grew up. Once I finally began my career in the library world, it seemed such an easy decision and I still often wonder what took me so long. The title of this award speaks directly to my mission as a Librarian.â
Christopher Dew
Christopher established his library at Lehigh Valley H.O.P.E., an organization that provides clothes and household goods to the homeless. He did this as his Boy Scoutâs of America Eagle Project, making him the youngest recipient of a Judithâs Reading Room Freedom Through Literacy Award. Under his leadership, Chris collaborated with other Boy Scouts to build and stain bookcases. He organized a book drive that resulted in the collection of over 600 books. Finally, he obtained furniture and a rug to turn his mini-library into a comfortable reading area. Christopher acknowledges that when you have nothing, the focus is on clothes, food â the basics. For some, books are generally not thought of as a basic need. He disagrees. Chris believes that while literacy is the foundation for education, access is the key element for literacy. Homeless families, whose needs are so great, also need to have access to books, especially childrenâs books so that they can expand their imagination and see what the world has to offer.
Christopher Dew â âWhile literacy is the foundation for education, access is the key element for literacy. Literacy is 100% dependent on having access to any kind of reading material. When I found out I was being recognized by Judithâs Reading Room, I was so shocked that I was actually speechless. Iâm not even sure how I responded because I really couldnât believe it.â
Ana Ramirez Luhrs
Lafayette College Skillman Librarian, Ana Luhrs, recently led a group of students to The Leadership Center (TLC) to Zambrano, Honduras to work side-by-side with 25 hand-picked young women eager to develop business and leadership skills. The goal of TLC is to educate, train and develop a new generation of female leaders by providing English immersion, business seminars and leadership training. Nominated by teachers, pastors, community leaders and government officials, this elite group of women, ranging in age from 18-29, watched as Ana curated the fledgling library and learned the importance of creating a culture of reading for pleasure. During Anaâs tenure at TLC, she noticed the gaps in genres that she felt would enhance the studentsâ experience. Ana has been selected to lead another group of Lafayette College students to TLC in January 2019 where they will hand-carry books to establish the 97th Judithâs Reading Room library in our organizationâs 20th country!
Ana Luhrs â âJudith Krug fervently believed in the power of books and their ability to transform lives. With this award, I am honored to carry this message back to the young women leaders of The Leadership Center who are transforming their lives and their communities through education.â
Cheryl, an 18-year veteran fifth grade science and social studies teacher, is also responsible for the Dover School Districtâs common core standards for non-fiction. Brilliantly dovetailing these two responsibilities into the âOutdoor Education Book,âshe teaches every 5th grader in the district how to write and publish non-fiction e-books using I-Pads. The outdoor education program covers such diverse topics as stream and pollinator studies, vermi-composting and waste water treatment. Using the Book Creator app, students use their notes, photos and videos to compose a book (see above) about their 2 1/2 day outdoor education adventure. Books are then posted on a digital portfolio, shared district-wide. The book is the culmination of all that the students have learned about non-fiction writing.
Cheryl Stoner-Gutshall â âIt is very exciting to have the Outdoor Education of Dover School District recognized by this global non-profit organization. I have always known that the Outdoor Education program was special, but now I know others do too.”
Marsha Townsend (left)
âBringing Up a Bookworm,â a nonprofit initiative by 4th grade teacher Marsha Townsend, educates expectant parents about the value of reading aloud to their child even before he/she is born! Marsha and friends fill literacy-rich gift bags and deliver them to obstetriciansâ offices. The doctors and nurses â wholeheartedly trusted by parents-to-be â hand the bags to their patients along with supportive ideas about the importance of reading to their babies and children. The gift bag contains a copy of Reading Magic: How Reading Aloud to Our Children will Change their Lives; a childrenâs board book and information about the Berks County Library system. Marsha champions the need to read aloud to newborns, infants and toddlers. She acknowledges that read-aloud time provides the basics of how a book works, the language of books, an abundance of vocabulary and bonding time with parents.
Marsha Townsend â âBoth the skills for reading and the love of reading can start to develop at birth.â
