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The Little
Read is a three year literacy program funded by a generous grant
from the family of Ron and Sandra Deal in memory of their daughter
Sara Catherine Deal Temple who loved children and loved teaching
them to read. The Little Read grew out of, in part, the community’s
positive response to The BIG Read—Catawba County’s community-wide
reading initiative for adults.
The BIG Read was initiated
and first led by Lenoir-Rhyne College and involved three additional
partners: Catawba County Library System, Catawba Valley Community
College, and the Hickory Public Library. The BIG Read is a
separate entity and is not part of Lenoir-Rhyne College’s Visiting
Writers Series.
Consequently, The Little
Read differs from The BIG Read in both its focus (elementary
children) and its administration (Lenoir-Rhyne College). In
addition, The Little Read will begin by focusing on the Hickory
Public School system and will include local private schools within
the city limits. In years two and three, it hopes to include
elementary schools in the county’s other two school
systems—Newton-Conover Schools and Catawba County Schools. The
Little Read will pursue other working relationships with local
libraries, literacy groups, and parents’ organizations.
Central to The Little Read
is the involvement of Lenoir-Rhyne College’s School of Education.
Lenoir-Rhyne College’s Education faculty and students will serve as
mentors to the program. In addition to providing valuable current
data and theoretical perspectives for The Little Read, we will look
to them for guidance and support along the way.
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