This article is from page 30 of the 2007-05-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
GARDAI in Shannon welcomed a delegation from Canada including a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to County Clare on Friday as part of a scheme to pro- mote a transatlantic literacy pro- eramme involving dozens of schools and libraries in Ireland and Canada.
Constable John T Kennedy of the RCMP, or Mounties as they are affectionately known, met with members of An Garda Siochana at Shannon and later with some of the participants of “The Reading Chal- lenge. Cst Kennedy was accompa- nied on his visit by Eric Stackhouse, Chief Librarian, Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
The visit is the culmination of a link forged last year between Clare County Library, An Garda Siochana, Canadian Libraries, the Royal Cana- dian Mounted Police (RCMP) and 21 National Schools in Co Clare aimed at promoting reading among chil- Clone
‘The Reading Challenge’ forms part of the ‘Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program’, which was established ten years ago in northern New Bruns- wick by the RCMP. The police act as the ‘bridge’ between the commu- nity and the library, and in return the library develops programs and ac- tivities that directly impact literacy amongst children.
Explaining how the Challenge works, Patricia Fitzgerald, Assistant Librarian, Children’s Services, Clare
County Library said, “Gardai and public library staff visit participat- ing schools where they explain the importance and fun of reading to the children and encourage them to use their local library. Once a month, a designated teacher in each school counts the number of books read before registering the tally on ‘The Reading Challenge’ website.
The Reading Challenge began in late 2006 and has proven to be hugely successful. The participating National Schools are Tubber, Bur- rane, Clouna, Carrigaholt, Doonaha, Lackyle, Killaloe Boys National, En- nis Educate Together School, Coore, St. Senans National School Kilrush, Moy, Mullagh, Corofin, Flagmount, Crusheen, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Cratloe, Moyasta, Feakle, Doora and
Inagh.
At the end of the school year, the school that has read the most books overall will receive €2100 worth of books, sponsored by Scholastic pub- lishers. Clare County Library is also awarding the school who reads the most with €2000 worth of books.
County Librarian Noel Crowley said, ““We are delighted to have been able to partake in such an important and unique program. The Library Service looks forward to further developing the initiative in county Okan