Articles by Meredith Scott
For the past 20 years, Duncan McDougall has successfully been raising funds (while telling stories to LOTS of kids) to support CLiF’s continued growth. We asked him to share his technique for fundraising and grant writing with our Year of the Book teachers at a past Community Literacy Conference. These tips are meant for beginner … Continued
As schools, libraries, afterschool programs, and preschools ramp up for fall, we wanted to share some low-cost literacy program ideas that CLiF partners generated last year. Many of our grants now include an additional program component. The ideas listed here came from these CLiF opportunities: Last winter, CLiF added a $500 Revive grant to any … Continued
When my fourth grade daughter started thinking about her informational writing piece, a culminating writing project of sorts, she initially focused on topics about which she was knowledgeable – myths (thank you Rick Riordan), dogs, skiing. I asked her what she wanted to learn more about, and her answer was the Taliban. I put that … Continued
My family has been spending summers in the 1000 Islands in the St. Lawrence River since I was a child. As I have aged and introduced my own daughter to island living, it has become clearer to me how this place has influenced my life decisions, sense of friendship, love of the outdoors, and appreciation … Continued
In March, I traveled to Nicaragua with one of Planting Hope‘s multigenerational trips. Over the past eighteen years, this small NGO has been using volunteers to help bolster the schools and libraries in and around San Ramon. Our group of about 20 people, ranging in age from 9 to 79-ish, visited a different school or … Continued
On Sunday May 20, about 100 librarians, teachers, authors, educators gathered at Burlington High School for Vermont’s first nErDcampVT. The name says it all, and as attendees and organizers acknowledged, only true book nerds would give up a Sunday in May to talk about books, reading, and how to make more kids love both! The … Continued
Annually, CLiF invites past, present, and recently-accepted Year of the Book partners to attend the CLiF Community Literacy Conference. The main goal of the conference is to connect teachers, librarians, and administrators with ideas for making their Year of the Book fun and for continuing the momentum the grant generates. This year’s conference agenda included sessions on diversity … Continued
How will you spend April 19, 2018? Maybe you will celebrate National Bicycle Day (we wish we could!), National D.A.R.E Day, or National Garlic Day. At CLiF, we will celebrate a big day of bringing kids together with books, community, authors/illustrators/storytellers, and having fun in school, the library, or at another favorite out-of-school-time place. So, … Continued
Good news for my fourth grade daughter – for the latest semester of school, she has been appointed a member of the school’s “Awesome Reporters.” This group of students picks topics of interest to them and the student body and puts together articles with photos that are posted in school and sent to the local … Continued
Multicultural Children’s Book Day (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Its mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
There is nothing like the holiday season for connecting and reconnecting us to all kinds of traditions. I wrote a review of our Christmas book collection recently, and for part two, want to share some of the books I read with my daughter about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, with many thanks to our school and public … Continued
There is nothing like the holiday season for connecting and reconnecting us to all kinds of traditions. Everywhere I look there are reminders of past holidays and evolving seasonal activities. These are two of my most favorite Christmas tree ornaments. When my best friend from high school and I moved to Washington, DC, after college, … Continued
Question: Why is Marty Kelley, (right) author of the book Ladybug Award nominee Albert’s Amazing Almost Adventure and Almost Everyone Farts, reading The Organic Gardener’s Home Reference to elementary aged children? Answer: He read it to train them how to share books with others. Belmont Elementary School (BES) invited Marty to “train” their K-4th graders … Continued
Last week, more than 80 librarians from 71 towns across New Hampshire and Vermont gathered at the Briggs Opera House and Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction, VT for CLiF’s semi-annual Rural Libraries Conference. It was a packed day of panels, workshops, and exciting prizes like a storytelling presentation by popular CLiF presenter Simon Brooks. … Continued
As we celebrated our wider national community this July 4, CLiF wanted to share an example of “community literacy.” Spotlight on Morrisville, VT. CLiF first visited Morrisville in Summer 2015 when the Morristown After School Program (MASP) applied for the Summer Readers program. MASP participants have developed a relationship with David Martin over the past three … Continued
Vermont has suffered through a rainy early summer. One rainy Saturday, I had a perfectly planned visit to the paint-your-own-pottery studio. My daughter and her friend had exchanged gift certificates for birthday presents; we spent the car ride analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of painting one big thing versus painting a few small items. Excitement … Continued
I love that my daughter enjoys team sports – from kick ball at recess to organized youth soccer, it gives us tons to discuss. There are all the traditional benefits of team sports – learning to win and lose gracefully, to understand how the individuals work within a team, to interact with coach/another adult, to … Continued
Is there anything funnier than the third grade recorder concert? My daughter’s third grade recorder concert came the day after the CLiF Community Literacy Conference – a full day for our small staff running a conference for 130 Year of the Book teachers, librarians, and school staff. I am not sure what came over me, … Continued
CLiF has served over 350,000 children since 1998.