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One book brings Bellefonte together

By EMMA GOSALVEZ

egosalvez@lockhaven.com

BELLEFONTE – Community members of all ages came to Bellefonte Area High School in below-freezing weather recently to stand united in one love: reading.

The evening event was Bellefonte READS’ “One Book, One Bellefonte” event in the high school’s library.

Bellefonte READS is a local literacy initiative spearheaded by co-chairs Jackie Wynkoop and Jennifer Zahuranec, literacy coaches in the Bellefonte Area School District (BASD), and Michelle Saylor, assistant superintendent. This is the second year for the initiative, and this year’s featured book is “I am Malala” by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl who stood up for females’ right to an education.

“What I think is the most valuable thing about something like Bellefonte READS is really getting the entire community talking about one topic, and it really brings us together,” said Laura Sarge, outreach and youth programming librarian at Centre County Library.

At the event, age-appropriate versions of the Malala book were given out to community members for free, samplings of Pakistani food were available to try, Pakistani versions of children’s games were provided, Chromebooks were set up to allow for the perusal of several informational Malala-related websites, and two organizations that helped secure grant money to purchase the Malala books were present – the Bellefonte Women’s Club and the State College branch of the American Association of University Women.

For the children, there were Pakistani versions of Parcheesi and Hopscotch and a game called Sticks, in which children tried to knock sticks out of a circle with beanbags.

There was also a drawing activity called “Make a Wish With Your Magic Pencil.” In her book, Malala talked about praying for a magic pencil from a favorite childhood TV show – a pencil that had the power to make anything come to life just by drawing it. For the event’s activity, children were encouraged to draw their own wishes for children around the world.

The children’s drawings will be on display at the upcoming Family Literacy Night on Wednesday, March 23, according to Dr. Michelle Saylor, assistant superintendent at Bellefonte Area School District.

Currently BASD is working with a Penn State Humphrey fellow, Aisha Suhail, for a student exchange project centered on writing about education empowerment, Saylor said. Suhail oversees 470 schools in Pakistan through her work with the Care Foundation in Pakistan, an organization whose mission is to provide free education.

One of those 470 schools will be chosen for the exchange project and approximately 100 students at that school will write on the topic of how education empowers. They will then communicate their writings through the internet to Bellefonte students, who will do the same.

By the end of the night, the Malala books had almost run out, Wynkoop said. Around 300 people, including 125 families, attended the event, and out of the 230 books bought for the event, about 205 were given out.

“It went better than we ever could have hoped,” said Wynkoop, as the Bellefonte READS co-chairs were hoping to see at least 100 people attend. “It just shows how much the Bellefonte community values literacy.”

For community members who did not have the opportunity to pick up a Malala book, the Centre County Library will have one copy of each version of the book on hand, according to Sarge. There will also be two copies at each of the Little Free Libraries in the area which include four locations in Bellefonte: Talleyrand Park, the corner of East Linn and North Wilson streets, the corner of West Curtin and North Spring streets, and 618 Pine Ridge Circle.

During February and March, Bellefonte READS will be holding various book chats to discuss the Malala books. Adults will have the opportunity to meet either on Thursday, March 10 at Cool Beans Coffee and Tea from 7 to 8 p.m. or on Friday, March 11 at the Centre County Library from 10 to 11 a.m.

Book chats for high school students will be held the week of March 7 to 11 during school hours and on Thursday, March 3 at Cool Beans from 7 to 8 p.m. Middle school students will have the opportunity to discuss the books during school hours that same week. Elementary school students and their families can meet for a book chat Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the BAHS library from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In addition, the Centre County Library’s two book clubs will be reading and discussing the book in April, according to Sarge.

On Wednesday, March 23, community members of all ages are invited to attend Bellefonte READS’ second annual Family Literacy Night, which will be filled with various fun book-related activities, from “shelfies” with favorite books to themed book basket prize give-aways.

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