Calhoun County Library Receives $3,000 Grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to Support Summer Literacy

St. Matthews, SC - June 8, 2022 – The Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Calhoun County Library a $3,000 grant to support summer literacy. This local grant is part of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s recent award of $10.5 million donation to support summer, family, and adult literacy programs, representing the organization’s largest one-day grant donation in its 29-year history.

 “The Calhoun County Library cannot thank the Dollar General Literacy Foundation enough for its generous funding of our summer reading program,” said Beth Rast, Programs and Outreach Librarian. “Because of the support from Dollar General, we were able to register over 160 readers and to log in over 60,000 minutes of reading this summer. Over 700 community members enjoyed educational, exciting programs that were interesting and focused on the importance of literacy. Involvement in our summer reading program helped to prevent the summer SLIDE for many students as they continued to read for incentives over the summer. We are thrilled with our partnership with Dollar General and look forward to working with them in the future!”

"For nearly 30 years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has been proud to invest in literacy and education programs in our hometown communities," said Denine Torr, executive director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. "The recent and significant shifts in the educational landscape have made the Foundation’s mission more critically important. As we work to create access to high-quality instruction for all individuals, we share our gratitude for the educators who are working to uplift and empower others. We hope these funds will have a meaningful impact on students and teachers across the country and look forward to seeing the positive impact they have on learners.”

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation supports organizations that increase access to educational programming, stimulate and enable innovation in the delivery of educational instruction and inspire a love of reading. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center to support adult, family, summer, and youth literacy programs. The Foundation also offers a student referral program for individuals interested in learning how to read, speak English, or prepare for the high school equivalency exam. Referrals to a local organization that provides free literacy services are available online here or through referral cards found in the Learn to Read brochures that are available at the cash register of every Dollar General store. 

About Calhoun County Library

The Calhoun County Library is committed to optimizing library services, strengthening community involvement, and exemplifying strategic stewardship throughout the various communities in our service area, including St. Matthews, Fort Motte, Sandy Run, Cameron, Lone Star, and areas beyond. The Library meets this mission through the delivery of programs and services at the main library, the Bookmobile, the Sandy Run Express Point, and through outreach efforts. For more information, visit us on Facebook and Instagram @calhouncountylibrarysc or visit https://www.calhouncountylibrary.org.

About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $216 million in grants, helping more than 15.4 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. Cal Turner, Jr. founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to honor his grandfather and Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate having dropped out of school in the third grade to support his family. The Foundation aims to provide support to schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations that seek to improve adult, summer, youth and family literacy initiatives. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, visit www.dgliteracy.org.

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1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

            The role of parent or guardian includes serving as a child’s first teacher. Not only do they provide a child’s basic survival needs, but they also prepare them for life. Reading to babies and toddlers gives them all the opportunity to develop a strong sense of literature through language and reading skills. They learn numbers, colors, shapes, and letters of the alphabet, all through books.

            At the Calhoun County Library, we strive for everyone to enjoy reading and to be able to learn at the same time. We are offering a new incentive, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, to prepare young children of the community for school.

            By reading 1,000 books with your children before they begin kindergarten, you are letting them know that reading is an important life skill that will hopefully become a habit. You can sing, dance, play, and recite together to show that reading is fun!

            To participate in this program, sign up on calhouncountylibrary.com/reader365 or by coming into the library to fill out a simple form.

            1,000 books may seem like a lot, but don’t get intimidated. If you read only one book a day, that means that your child will have reached the goal in under three years! That doesn’t mean you have to read 1,000 different books either; every book counts. You and your child can read the same book over and over and it still counts each time!

            For every 100 books, Calhoun County Library invites you to bring your child in for a new log sheet and a reading celebration. This includes having their photo taken so they can be placed on our Wall of Fame in the children’s section of the library.

            When your child reaches 1,000 books, come celebrate at the library and get a very special prize! We want to celebrate our little readers for every achievement they make.

            You don’t have to stop at 1,000 books! There is a lot more learning ahead!

            This project is made possible by an awarded grant from Save the Children to support early childhood literacy.

Learn with Shapes

            The Calhoun County Library held a STEM and STEM, Jr. program all about simplifying geometry as part of our summer reading wrap-up!  

            Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson informed children about Geometry and its properties which can be a little confusing unless you’re learning it in a fun way.  What better way to learn it than with snacks? On Thursday, August 4, 2022, our mathematicians aged 5 - 12 learned how to figure out diameters and areas while creating some geometric figures. We like seeing how creative children can get!

            Dr. Rice-Jackson made sure that every student learned something about geometry including measuring a base and height, measuring length and width, and discovering a radius and diameter. Children used  rectangular shaped graham crackers, round Ritz crackers, triangular Doritos, and square Cheez-Its for measuring and calculating. After the program was complete, they were allowed to eat their shapes! They also enjoyed a pizza lunch before meeting local author, Monica Roe, at the ice cream social afterwards.  Thank you, Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson for giving our community a wonderful STEM and STEM, Jr. program this summer! We are very lucky to have you.

            The STEM programs are made possible by an awarded grant from Save the Children to encourage learning and understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math.

Local Author

            Local author Monica Roe visited the Calhoun County Library to discuss her newest book, Air, last Thursday.

            Monica Roe is a resident of Calhoun County and is a pediatric physical therapy consultant as well as an advocate for the social model of disability. She explained in an interview with teen volunteers Sara Birch and Sarah Nell Walling that her motivation for writing this book was because she was tired of people thinking that they knew what the disabled need and therefore ignoring their voices.

            Air is a junior fiction novel about a young girl named Emmie who is confined to a wheelchair and is growing up in rural South Carolina. We follow her as she faces discrimination and oversight due to her disability. As she overcomes these challenges, she teaches us the importance of respecting the needs and wishes of everyone. Many of the problems Emmie battles aren’t what would first come to mind when we think of the struggles that are the most obvious for a person with a disability. Monica does an excellent job of creating awareness by allowing the reader to see life from the perspective of a disabled person.

            Our community came together to discuss this award-winning book on Thursday, August 4, 2022. We celebrated with an ice cream social under the oak trees as Monica answered questions and read excerpts from Air. A lucky few won an autographed copy of Air and other books written by Monica Roe.

            As an added surprise, Roe announced that she has just released another new book! As part of the Jake Maddox JV Girls series, she published Snowboard Balancing Act on July 31 of this year. Be on the lookout for that book to be added to the Calhoun County Library’s collection. If you can’t wait, it is already being sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and other online retail stores.

            In the meantime, go find Air by Monica Roe in the library today and enjoy the story of a strong girl who earns the respect of those around her!

            Thank you to Monica Roe who shared her work with our community and thank you to Save the Children who made this event possible.

Summer Reading Program Finale

            The Calhoun County Library held a finale to celebrate the success of its great readers throughout the summer reading program last Thursday.

            The end of our busy summer reading program was a reason to celebrate with a ceremony to honor all participants. For the summer, we had more than 200 participants who ended the summer with a great understanding that reading holds oceans of possibilities and books can take readers on many adventures.

            During this year’s finale held on Thursday, July 28, 2022, we welcomed the University of South Carolina’s mascot Cocky. With the help of Cocky’s Reading Express staff, Cocky read a story to the audience, took pictures with the readers, and helped give out the summer reading prizes. These prizes included Kindles, bicycles, tricycles, and two $50 Piggly Wiggly gift cards. Cocky also helped present summer reading completion certificates and gave away books to everyone in attendance. Following the program, all received school supplies and enjoyed local favorite “Cookie Monster” ice cream from Harmony Ice Cream.

            Calhoun County students received an additional surprise. For Calhoun County students, our team has made a special deal with their schools. Each student who shows their summer reading completion certificate to their teacher gets a bonus grade! What a great way to start the school year.

            We hope all had a great time participating in the 2022 Summer Reading Program at the Calhoun County Library! Let us know what you thought of the programs this year so we can continue to grow and meet the needs of our community next summer.

            This project was made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library. Thank you to Dollar General Literacy Foundation and to Save the Children for funding, as well.