By Sallie James
FORT LAUDERDALE – Local authors who have written children’s books will do in-person readings during family fun day hosted by Action for Literacy on Jan. 22nd at Joseph C. Carter Park. The free event, created to interest kids in reading, will feature a variety of activities and book giveaways.
Action for Literacy Day will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the park at 1450 W. Sunrise Blvd. and include reading-oriented games, arts and crafts and a special scavenger hunt that will have participants chasing clues all over the park. The event is aimed at children in grades three and under.
According to Action for Literacy, children who do not read well by third grade have an increasingly difficult time keeping up and are four times as likely to drop out of high school. Promoting reading through activities, games, essay contests and book giveaways is one way the organization strives to improve the odds for children who come from disadvantaged neighborhoods where they do not have access to books or mentors.
“If we can stir the interest of at least a few kids who are weak on reading, we will have accomplished our goal,” said Mark Miller, president of Action for Literacy. “Our goal is that we have a lot of people come out and have a fun day.”
Action for Literacy’s Kelly Green SUPERREADER vehicle, stocked with books, will be at the event to showcase available free books.
Interested in hearing an author read her own book? Local author and elementary school teacher Ingrid Lucia will read The Little Letters Come to Life at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. at the park.
Costa Rican artist and author Gabriela Esquivel will read Gema the Curious Butterfly at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Action for Literacy, in collaboration with the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale and the Christian Life Center, is also the driving force behind the city’s free Little Libraries program. The nonprofit has built, stocked and maintained 127 birdhouse-style Little Libraries that are scattered throughout the city as part of a program that began in 2016.
Under the program, readers can borrow books from any of the Little Libraries to read and return, or keep. The ongoing reading program has enabled the organization to give away more than 30,000 free books annually to children in the city’s neediest neighborhoods.
About Action for Literacy
Action for Literacy is a 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for and develops neighborhood resources. The organization has purchased pallets of over-stocked books, built dozens of Little Free Libraries, and converted an old business truck into mobile bookmobile known as the SUPER READER, which brings free books to neighborhood events. Learn more at www.actionforliteracy.com.
