FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09/14/2021 Contact: Rose Rulon Eastern Shore Literacy Council 757-789-1761 esliteracy@gmail.com BUILD YOUR CHILD’S HOME LIBRARY WITH FREE BOOKS Inspire a love of reading! Melfa, VA: Inspire a love of reading and get up to 60 books for your child, thanks to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Dolly Parton’s international Imagination Library program is now available to children in Accomack and Northampton Counties. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a remarkable program designed to inspire the love of reading and learning in children. Dolly understands that reading is key to a strong education and that a child’s imagination is the center of dreams and creativity. By combining the two, the Imagination Library program inspires children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails FREE books to children’s homes. All children from birth until they turn five years old are eligible. The ESLC is working to guarantee children in our community gain a love of reading early on. The Imagination Library books are carefully selected by Dolly and her staff to be age appropriate. Many come with suggestions to the reader on how to best enjoy the book with their child. Dolly provides the books with hopes that the adults and children spend hours enjoying their special time together. As a parent or caregiver, reading with your child is the most important activity that you can do to help set them up for future success. The ESLC became a local affiliate of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library after receiving a start-up grant from the Nora Roberts Foundation. For this first year there will be a cap of 120 children, but next year the number will be raised pending additional funding. According to Rose Rulon, ESLC Executive Director, the Council introduced the program to children on the Eastern Shore, after being approached by David Nees, Chincoteague Kiwanis Club member, who noted the success of the Imagination Library program on Chincoteague Island. To register a child, parents and guardians can submit a registration form to the ESLC. Forms can be downloaded from the program’s website shoreliteracy.org, requested by emailing dollyfreebooks@gmail.com or by calling the office at 757-789-1761. To register through the website, visit imaginationlibrary.com and click the “Availability” button and follow the steps. Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation has gifted well over 165 million free books in Australia, Canada, The Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States. The Imagination Library mails more than 1.8 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to registered children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring them to dream. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com. ###
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Eastern Shore Literacy Council 29316 Lankford Hwy., P.O. Box 228, Melfa, VA 23410 Contact: Rose Rulon Phone: 757-789-1761 director.esliteracy@es.vccs.edu FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 31, 2021 Eastern Shore Literacy Council Receives Grant The Eastern Shore Literacy Council was recently awarded a three-thousand dollar ($3,000.00) grant from the Nora Roberts Foundation to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to Eastern Shore children. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. The Nora Roberts Foundation was created twenty years ago by the best-selling author Nora Roberts to support and encourage literacy, children, the arts and humanitarian efforts. The Kiwanis Club of Chincoteague brought The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to Chincoteague children in 2019. With this grant to the Eastern Shore Literacy Council, the program can be extended to an estimated 2,000 age eligible children living off the Island. For more information or to donate to the Eastern Shore Literacy Council for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, call 757-789-1761, email esliteracy@gmail.com or visit shoreliteracy.org.  To everyone who supported our Cozy Up to Reading Basket fundraiser we shout out a HUGE THANK YOU. On March 2, Read Across America Day, the winner was selected. Pictured with Eastern Shore Literacy Council board President, Philip Wilson, the winner picked up her basket at the Book Bin. With a birthday in March, Belen can cozy up with a book, chocolate, a hot beverage, a pillow and a beautiful quilt on her special day.
Starting in January, ESLC is doing a reading challenge.
Enjoy yourself as you explore genres and themes you might not otherwise select. Read a new book, an old book, a borrowed book, or a store bought book. Curl up with a book. Kick back with a book. Each month you log a book for the month’s theme, you may claim a reward for that month. Click on the link below to view a printable PDF of the log. You must visit the Book Bin to get your log stamped and to claim your reward. One monthly reward per reader, while supplies last. Turn-in your log by noon on December 31, 2021, and qualify for the grand prize. We also selling tickets for an additional "Cozy up to Reading Basket." Tickets are $5 each or $20 for five. They can be purchased at the Book Bin, by calling ESLC at (757) 789-1761, or online by selecting the "Donate" button below. On the payment page that appears, select $5 for one ticket, $10 for two tickets, $20 for five tickets, or "Other Amount" if you'd like a different number of tickets. Please enter an amount that is a multiple of $5.
If you love crossword puzzles, game shows or spelling bees, mark your calendars now and save the date for an evening of fun to benefit the Eastern Shore Literacy Council. Spell-Rite 2021 will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2021.starting at 5:30 p.m.
Now in its 20th year, Spell-Rite, an entertaining spelling bee competition, features teams of spellers from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel to the Maryland line, vying for the title “Best Spellers on the Shore”. A silent auction and dinner will be followed by competition starting at 7:00 p.m. Spell-Rite “Professor” Kelley Gaskill, WESR radio personality, will entertain you with her commentaries. Come join the fun and play along with your favorite team. Only 150 tickets will be sold. Call 757-789-1961 or email esliteracy@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities, to donate to the silent auction or to purchase tickets. Proceeds will help provide free tutoring for adults needing to improve reading skills. PRICE INFORMATION
 A beautiful day for a wonderful group of Literacy Council volunteers to place 125 flags at the Eastern Shore Family YMCA. honoring everyday heroes. The flags were sponsored by individuals in our community in honor of or in memory of a personal hero past or present who inspired them. The Literacy Council thanks everyone who supported our Flags for Heroes Project and to Joe, Wanda, Michael, Jackie, Diane and Rhonda and Karen for creating a beautiful and inspiring display. As we give thanks for the blessings in our lives let us honor these and all heroes in our lives.  Our thanks to all the businesses and individuals who are supporting our Flags for Heroes fundraiser:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Eastern Shore Literacy Council Contact: Rose Rulon, esliteracy@gmail.com September 29, 2020 Literacy Council Announces Flags for Heroes Melfa, VA. – American flags flying in the wind can be a breathtaking sight. Be part of our tribute to the heroes in our lives, past and present. This is your chance to honor your personal hero and celebrate those who have inspired you. Heroes can be anyone you know or have known. Heroes include, but are not limited to military, first-responders, or other personal heroes, friends, family members, health professionals, clergy, or anyone who has been a hero in your life. Each flag on display at the Eastern Shore Family YMCA will be identified with your name and the name of your hero. Flags will be on display starting November 7. Flags for Heroes is organized and presented by the Eastern Shore Literacy Council, a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Flag sponsorships provide funding that allows the Literacy Council to continue to provide free tutoring to adults over the age of 18 who want to improve reading skills through two programs, Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Three flag sizes are available and sponsorship forms can be either downloaded from the link below or found at many local businesses. Pick up a form at
Honor a hero in your life. Reserve your flag today. Deadline is October 20. ###
This year, our annual campaign is featuring our learner Asuman. Please read her story and contribute and/or volunteer with ESLC so we can continue supporting learners such as she.  
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