April 2008

Announcing the Read First! Initiative - A Concerted Effort With Ten Towns

Read First logoWe've been working for several months on a big, new project that will attempt to achieve for whole communities what we have previously achieved for isolated family networks. We have just mailed announcements to community organizations all over Missouri. We are launching a partnership program with huge implications for family and community life in the years ahead. Each partnership begins with a solid month of activities...something for everyone!

The central idea of Read First! is to try to multiply the transformative effects of the READ from the START workshops we've spread throughout Missouri in twelve years. We are seeking communities that want to reap the benefits of this program and create a place where every child is read to. We are willing to invest intensive attention and support for the ten towns who bid successfully to be in the first wave of this project.

We developed this project at the urging of a private donor who has given our family reading program a quarter of a million dollars since 2002. Read Julie Douglas's vision for Read First! and then think about involving your own town. May 16 is the deadline for applications from communities.

A Man and a Girl in a Coffee Shop

Julie writes a monthly column On Family Reading, but she also keeps a journal when she travels. And, oh, does she ever travel! She was in Ireland last month on vacation, and out of that trip comes a priceless vignette about how one parent reinforced his daughter's interest in a book.

Chautauqua 2009 Tour Open for Community Applications

Image of Chautauqua tent

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT is our theme again next year for the month of June and the kind of festival everybody likes. We provide the show, and the host community organizes the local details. May 21 is the deadline for community applications. See our Chautauqua page for details.

Better Readers Catch a Falling Star

Book cover imageI've recently finished reading a three-book "prequel" to the Peter Pan story. What a delightful March! The three books are the product of the ever-zany Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Ridley Pearson's daughter, Paige, asked him one night how a flying boy met a certain pirate. One thing led to another, and with a cross-continent e-mail connection, Ridley and Dave swapped story ideas and then chapters.

The "Starcatcher Trilogy" is the focus of the ReadMOre enterprise this spring. I hope you'll check the ReadMOre web site for program details as well as ways to interact about the books online. I've put a blog there to get things rolling.

Better Museum Visits with HELP

Project HELP is looking for a part-time Field Representative in Missouri. "HELP, I need somebody, HELP, not just anybody," goes the song lyric, if not the job announcement. HELP means "Hands-On Experiential Learning Project," and it's a bold idea to help small, rural museums make improvements in how they operate. HELP is managed by the Mid-America Arts Alliance, a regional service organization in Kansas City. I've agreed to serve on the project's advisory council. Help is going to be on the way for a solid year, starting in June.

If that weren't cause for celebration, the big news this month is about the revival of the Missouri Museums Association. The Association elected Linda Endersby (Missouri State Museum, Jefferson City) to serve as President. Other officers are Vicky Love, Vice-President (Scott Joplin State Historic Site), Shelly Croteau, Secretary (State Archives), and Michele Hansford, Treasurer (Powers Museum, Carthage). Contact Linda for membership information.

Grant Opportunities in History from Federal Sources

We receive an E-newsletter on National Heritage Areas, and it often lists a variety of Federal assistance programs of interest to towns and history organizations. Call it plagiarism if you must, but I've copied a whole sidebar from their April news onto a special page about Museum Assistance.