Literacy Council Wins $18K Grant To Establish Little Libraries

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday announced grant awards to 48 projects as part of the Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program, a collaborative effort between the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College.

Deal said the program "recognizes those leading the way in developing new, engaging programs to advance language and literacy skills" for students across the state.

“These grants will provide communities with additional resources to put more students on track to read on grade-level by the third grade," he said. "The bright minds of Georgia’s students are the state’s most precious resource and I commend the educators and community partners working to prepare them for future success.”

The Bartow Literacy Council is among the recipients, as it was awarded $18,400 to improve access to books for children ages 5 through 8. It will achieve this goal by implementing Little Libraries across the county and support children from low-income families via summer learning camps.

The Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program invests in strategic community partnerships that target language and literacy development needs for children from birth to age eight. Each awarded project is a collaborative effort between at least two community-based partners that focuses on one of the four pillars of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign: language nutrition, access, positive learning climate, and teacher preparation and effectiveness.

These community partnerships include child care centers, public and private pre-K programs, primary grades of elementary schools, local service agencies and local nonprofit organizations. Individual partners within an approved grant project will receive between $5,000 and $20,000 to support their roles in the partnership.

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)