{"id":8869,"date":"2024-03-17T04:18:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T17:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mtgambiertimes\/?p=8869"},"modified":"2024-03-13T13:30:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T02:30:38","slug":"sharing-the-love-of-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mtgambiertimes\/news\/sharing-the-love-of-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing the love of reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Little Book Boxes initiative will now be managed by a group of enthusiastic local volunteers and friends.<\/p>\n

Local children now have the opportunity to read wherever they go out in the community. Little Book Boxes encourages community members to read a book, take a book, love a book, and if they wish, leave a book.<\/p>\n

Hosted by various local businesses across Portland, Narrawong, and Heywood districts, there are over 20 book boxes aimed at increasing early childhood exposure to reading.<\/p>\n

Established in 2017 with the support of VCAL students at South West TAFE, the project faced a temporary hiatus when the students were forced to close down for 12 months due to floods.<\/p>\n

During this time, students from the Portland Re-engagement Centre stepped up, volunteering for three years before passing the reins to a dedicated friendship group of six volunteers.<\/p>\n

The new volunteers, fuelled by a passion to see more books in the hands of children, and themselves avid readers, are committed to seeing children pick up a book instead of a screen when out and about in the community.<\/p>\n

Helen Westhorpe, leading the volunteers, reflected on the impact of the Little Book Boxes.<\/p>\n

“During a recent wait for an appointment, I witnessed the immense value of these book boxes,\u201d Helen said. \u201cSeeing a child choose a book from the box and eagerly start reading was truly heartwarming.”<\/p>\n

United Way Glenelg executive officer Nicole Carr said she was excited about the new volunteers taking over the initiative, highlighting its importance in encouraging children to read.<\/p>\n

“Little Book Boxes are a great way to get more books into the homes of children,\u201d Ms Carr said. \u201cThey are free to take, and we encourage children to take as many as they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the books available are pre-loved, often sourced from the homes of older children who received books from Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library when they were young.<\/p>\n

If your business or sporting club would like to host a Little Book Box please contact United Way Glenelg on mail@unitedwayglenelg.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Little Book Boxes initiative will now be managed by a group of enthusiastic local volunteers and friends. Local children now have the opportunity to read wherever they go out in the community. Little Book Boxes encourages community members to read a book, take a book, love a book, and if they wish, leave a […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":8870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSharing the love of reading - Mt Gambier Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how the Little Book Boxes initiative, now managed by local volunteers, promotes reading among children in Portland, Narrawong, and Heywood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mtgambiertimes\/news\/sharing-the-love-of-reading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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