From Chocowinity Primary School

 

More than 250 books were placed in the hands of young readers this summer thanks to a new program implemented by Chocowinity Primary School.

The CPS book mobile brought all the wonders of the school library to families’ doorsteps, according to Principal Alicia Vosburgh.

“Early literacy is so important … we saw a need when children were coming in to register for school,” Vosburgh said. “We wanted to try to reach children in the community, and that is when we got the idea to do a book mobile.”

School staff, parents and the Friends of the Brown Library group donated suitable reading material to get the book mobile up and running.

“We loaded them up in the county cargo van and then we went on the road,” Vosburgh said with a smile.

Staffed by volunteers from the CPS faculty, the book mobile visited three mobile home neighborhoods in the immediate Chocowinity area. The response far exceeded expectations.

“It was fun; we even had parents get a few books,” Vosburgh said. “And we had kids not just from our community … we had kids from Washington and Pitt County, and from as far away as Maryland who were just visiting.”

Students could trade the books during return visits or they could just keep them; the goal was to get books into the homes.

CPS partnered with Kona Ice for the project, which meant that once children selected their books they could cool off with a delicious shaved ice treat. Kona Ice also provided each child with a special bookmark as a souvenir.

With very little publicity, the book mobile was a hit in it inaugural year; there are already plans to expand the service next summer, Vosburgh noted.