County receives an award for its ABC Express program
County receives an award for its ABC Express program
The children’s area at the San Benito County Free Library overflowed with visitors Wednesday as staff members received the 2011 Literacy Success Award for its ABC Express program.
“As you can see, the library doesn’t take too much to feel like there are quite a few of us,” said Nora Conte, the county librarian. “I believe the award not only belongs to the library but to the county.”
The award was given by Mike Mok, the vice president of U.S. sales for AWE, Inc., a company that provides digital learning programs to libraries, schools, child care centers and other educational forums. The company made the literacy station and laptop used in the program.
“This award has been established to recognize the work libraries do to promote literacy and learning in their communities,” said Mok. “We would like to thank the many libraries that took time to apply for the award. We had many excellent submissions again this year.”
Conte called county Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz and County Administrative Officer Rich Inman to the front of the room to receive the award.
Mok said that the company received more than 80 submissions and “this was head and shoulders above the others.”
“It is very important to recognize the Friends (of the Library, a volunteer group that supports the agency,)” De La Cruz said. “Nora, without your leadership the library wouldn’t be here.”
The goal of the ABC Express program was to introduce families on the waiting list for preschool to reading readiness, school readinessthe six early literacy skills and basic computer skills while also sharing the resources available at the library.
Library staff conducted two-hour sessions over six weeks at locations off-site from the library. The sessions included hands-on activities, group reading, and activities using four Bilingual Spanish AWE Early Literacy Stations. The program worked with 50 low-income families.
Conte pointed out a few large photos around the children’s area of some of the parents and children who participated in the ABC Express. Each photo illustrated a different concept, such as learning about technology or school readiness. The program worked with children and parents.
“Now parents are equipped to help their children,” Conte said. “It takes the whole county to make dreams come true and impact children.”
San Benito’s library was selected for the award by a panel of five judges.
This year marks the second time AWE, Inc. has held the Literacy Award. In addition to the award, the San Benito County Free Library will receive a free one-year subscription to a new AWE, Inc. product called Passport, which allows libraries to borrow from a library of 50 educational programs.
Some community leaders who attended the event included county supervisors Margie Barrios, Anthony Botelho and Jerry Muenzer; Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire; County Sheriff Darren Thompson; Chief Probation Officer Brent Cardall; Julie Morris, of Community Vision San Benito; Gary Byrne, of the Community Foundation for San Benito County and more.
Refreshments, including a cake, cookies and juice boxes were served after the awards presentation.
