Family Book Club

Huron Valley Women’s Prison Inmates Show Their Appreciation

adminFBC — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:29:37 +0000

Staying In Closer Touch volunteers were among an honored group of guests at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility attending a program of appreciation for the many hours of service given on behalf of the women serving their sentences there. Printed in the program for the evening was this quote from a mother:

Staying in Closer Touch has bonded my son and I in a way I thought wasn’t possible from prison. I never had a chance to read a book to him, and now he listens to my voice constantly as I express my love through the reading.

Inmates served a meal to their guests, presented a program of appreciations, sang, and handed out gifts to their mentors and supporters in the various programs brought to the prison by volunteers for their benefit. The Family Book Club volunteers in attendance were deeply touched.

Lincoln Multi-Age Elementary Thanks FBC for “Soup-er” Support

adminFBC — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:26:09 +0000

The Family Book Club had the wonderful honor of supporting Lincoln Multi-Age Elementary’s “Soup-er Family Reading Night.” On the menu were books with themes designed to whet the guests’ reading appetites “served” every 20 minutes by “celebrity” guest readers and yummy soup and bread to nourish the crowds throughout the evening. Family Book Club sent home a free book and literacy packet with each attendee. FBC salutes these creative and dedicated teachers, “celebrities,” students, and supporters for finding fun and interesting ways to connect families and reading!

“Positively Girls” a Positive Success

adminFBC — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:41:57 +0000

Family Book Club was pleased to partner with Parkridge Community Center in its program aimed at pre-adolescent and adolescent girls, called “Positively Girls.” The theme of the program was self care and positive self image building and was open to low-income girls up to age 18. Family Book Club provided each of the girls with the book The Care and Keeping of You, which answers questions about their growing and changing bodies and teaches them how to take care of themselves.

If you would like to contribute additional books to this on-going program or suggest titles of books with positive messages for these girls, contact us at familybookclub.org!

Walk the Talk: Kiwanis Members Do It!

adminFBC — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:32:56 +0000

Although they walk the talk all year long with their message to “change the world one child at a time,” the Ann Arbor Downtown Kiwanis paid special honor to children for March is Reading Month by passing the hat at their weekly meetings during the month of March. Through their generosity, funds and books were collected to help Family Book Club further its mission to spread the love of reading to every child who needs help accessing books in Washtenaw County. Thank you Kiwanis!

Thank you Kiwanis Club for Supporting Our Programs!

adminFBC — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:21:14 +0000

Thanks to the work of dedicated FBC volunteers, children of incarcerated parents receive a CD of their parent reading a book aloud to them along with the book through our Staying in Closer Touch program. This program is deeply appreciated by the parents who report that their children listen to the recording over and over, day after day. In some cases parents have not been able to see or even talk to their children in many months.

Family Book Club Executive Director Diane Saulter was invited to speak about our Staying in Closer Touch program at a recent Kiwanis Club meeting. Diane described the expansion of FBC’s Staying in Closer Touch program to the women’s state prison in Ypsilanti, Michigan last fall and told how the program has connected the mothers of over 500 children with a book and recording. There are more than 1000 incarcerated mothers at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility, and FBC volunteers hope to give most of them this opportunity by the end of the year.

Kiwanis has been a long time supporter of Family Book Club programs. Shortly after Diane spoke with Kiwanis about our programs we were notified that Kiwanis will be donating $1,500 to purchase books for our programs. We are grateful for this continued support from Kiwanis. One of our hardest working volunteers for the Staying in Closer Touch program is Kiwanis member Claire Dahl who says “Helping with the SICT Program has really touched my heart. The mothers are very appreciative of our time with them and they are always amazed that our program is for them and their children, for free!”

Pass the Hat for Books!

adminFBC — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:11:08 +0000

We heard that one of our supporting organizations is “passing the hat for books” this month. At the end of the month they will send us the funds to buy more books. Any organization you belong to might like to try this one meeting, one month or all year! The Retired School Personnel Association of Washtenaw County has asked members to bring a book for FBC at each of their quarterly meetings. We love the wonderful books we have been receiving from them that will be spreading the joy of reading to the children we serve.

March Is Reading Month!

adminFBC — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:02:52 +0000

March is Reading Month! All over the U.S., teachers and students take this opportunity to celebrate the joy of reading. At Family Book Club, every day is a day to celebrate the joy of reading. Family Book Club gives away 8,000 – 9,000 books every year. During March is Reading Month, we take this opportunity to thank our wonderful volunteers who promote reading by bringing kids and books together all year.

Staying in Closer Touch Program Expands to Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility

adminFBC — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:04:11 +0000

This past summer the Family Book Club was invited to bring our Staying In Closer Touch to the Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility (HVWCF). This program unites incarcerated parents and their children through reading. The parent reads aloud a book while a volunteer makes an audio recording. FBC sends a CD of the mother reading aloud along with the book to each child.

In August we began recruiting volunteers to work with the incarcerated moms, bought supplies, began the process of obtaining security clearances and volunteer training. The program met with the first group of women at the correctional facility in September. The number of children served by Staying in Closer Touch has now increased by over 100 percent. The incarcerated mothers express their deep appreciation for this program over and over. They ask who is buying the books. They are so grateful to have this opportunity to connect with their children in this special and meaningful way. We have found the staff at HVWCF to be very supportive of this program. Our volunteers find the work very rewarding. We know we are doing something very meaningful for these parents and their children.

FAMILY BOOK CLUB CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF GIVING BOOKS TO KIDS

adminFBC — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:53:21 +0000

The Family Book Club celebrated it’s 20th year anniversary on Sunday, September 25th with a group of friends, supporters and volunteers at Gladwin Farm in Ann Arbor. Guests were entertained by storyteller LaRon Williams and Nutshell, an Ann Arbor band.

The Gladwin Barn was a beautiful venue for a fall celebration and was a perfect venue for hanging fabulous a collection of “Storybook Quilts” on loan to us from the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild. Each quilt is a recreation of a quilt found in a children’s picture book. As guests entered the space they were greeted by a vivid, beautifully quilted image of the African folk lore spider Anansi as he is depicted in the children’s picture book, Anansi the Spide:r A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott. The Anansi quilt was created by local librarian Judy Schmidt.

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, FBC Board president Jenni Zimmer thanked a crowd of over 100 supporters and volunteers for their continued commitment to helping families develop a love of reading. She noted that although the Family Book Club is a very small organization, it has been successful in reaching many families by partnering with many local service providers. These include public health organizations, pre-schools, affordable housing groups and others that work with low income families who do not have the budget to buy books and often lack opportunities to visit their local libraries.

LaRon Willliams ended the celebration with his entertaining and creative storytelling of an Anansi tale. Mr. Williams performed at the first party for supporters of Baby Book Club nearly twenty years ago.

We thank all the many people who made this celebration a joyful one! Listed below are the names of some of the local businesses who contributed to the party:

A & L Wine Castle, Arbor Farms, Back Alley Gourmet, Busch’s Fresh Food Market, Cakes by Dianne, Caribou Coffee, Great Harvest Bread Company,Hiller’s Markets, Target, and Trader Joe

Welcome New Board Member Stephen Smith

adminFBC — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:48:15 +0000

Family Book Club Board of Directors are pleased to welcome Stephen Smith as our newest board member. Stephen brings a wealth of valuable experience and knowledge in both the field of information technology and community action. A former employee of the Ann Arbor bookstore Shaman Drum, Stephen is now the information technology manager for Republic Parking Ann Arbor. We are pleased to have his energy, ideas and enthusiasm working on behalf of family literacy!