 Books for Babies® Provincial News
 Bessie's
family tradition 'reads on' with three of her five
grand-children, (left to right) Tolkein, Thea and Caleb.Books for Babies® (BfB) is very pleased to share the news
that one of the program's founders, Ms. Bessie Merrigan,
has been honoured with a Canada Post 2005 Literacy Award. Congratulations
Bessie! She accepted her award during the Annual
General Meeting of the NL Laubach Literacy Council this October in St.
John's.
Early Literacy Networking Conference"Turning the Page"Dates:
May 3rd to 5th, 2006 Location: Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus,
University Drive, Corner Brook, NL (conference venue and reserved
accommodations for
80 people) Conference Agenda:
Wednesday,
May 3: Early registration & Campus
Tour (9:00 a.m.—12:00) / Plenary Session (2:00 - 3:00 p.m.) /
Meet'n Greet (5:00 - 7:00 p.m.) / Mars Bar Bus Tour (7:00
- 10:00 p.m.) Thursday, May 4: Sessions (9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
/ Banquet (7:00—9:00 p.m.) Friday, May 5: Sessions/Workshops/Wrap-Up
(9:00 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.) Workshop topics (to be confirmed):
Neurological
Development in Children, Language & Literacy
Links: Music, Folklore & More, Story-Telling, Speech & Language
Development in Children, Developming Community Partnerships, Literacy
Fun. Conference
Information will be available on-line on the Books for Babies® website
by the end of December, 2005. For more information and to receive
preconference or
conference material, please contact Tina or Natalie at the provincial
Books for Babies® office. ELNC Planning Committee members:
Tina Stewart, Natalie Hynes, Judy Pike, Bonnie Randell and Hope
Colbourne. "Turning the Page"
Materials Info: The provincial
office of Books for Babies® distributed
2000 tote bag kits and 1700 birthday year books between September,
2004, and July, 2005 in response to orders from program delivery
sites. Each tote bag with materials costs approximately $8.00 but
the cost
to sites remains $4.10. Each birthday year book retails between $5.95
and $7.95
but is $1.50 to program partners - to
families, it's still FREE.
Community partnerships continue to grow for Books for Babies®. Our proposal to Understanding the Early Years (referred to on page 1)
did not receive funding. We have strong community support for the proposal
from the Applied Research Unit of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College-MUN
and the Labrador Institute-MUN, Books for Babies® program partners
in Nain, Hopedale,
Natuashish, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, the Mary's Harbour -Battle
Harbour region, and Port Hope Simpson, the Labrador Inuit Association,
the Engaging Communities Initiative of the Community Education Network
and contacts at the Labrador School Board. The project, when funding
is secured, will be based, implemented and directed by our Labrador
community partners. Direction and supervision will come from an Advisory
Board which will include the provincial coordinator of Books for
Babies®and
a representative from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College-MUN. This is
the most substantial partnership work planned to date by Books
for Babies® and
community
partners. Its merit warrants funding, so the search continues.
We welcome these new and potential partners to our Books for Babies® "family"
- Branch Recreation Committee, Southern Shore (new)
- Stepping Stones
FRC, Placentia (new)
- Bay St. George Community Action Committee's
Healthy Baby Clubs (new)
- First Steps FRC, Labrador City
(new)
- Kids First FRC, Port Saunders
- MacMorran Community Centre,
St. John's
- The Salvation Army NL East, St. John's
- Fogo Island
Family Centre
- Community Centre Alliance sites
Books for Babies® Early Literacy Networking Conference "Turning the Page" Date: May 3rd to 5th, 2006 Location: Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus, University Drive, Corner Brook, NL |