Around 700 primary school children in outlying areas of the Hastings will be inspired to fall in love with reading, following the launch of the Library Literacy Van last week.
This joint initiative of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and The Westport Club is an example of work-ing with corporate partners to extend the community services already provided by Council and The Westport Club
The custom-fitted Library Literacy Van, funded by The Westport Club, will house approximately 1000 children’s books and will visit eight outlying schools in the Hastings area.
General Manager of The Westport Club, Anthony Westman, said this project is an extension of the club’s commitment to provide resources for reading and literacy to the children of Greater Port Macquarie.
“We’re so excited to see this project come to fruition. Partnering with Council in this way has allowed our community focus and com-mitment on literacy to reach further into the community. The consistency of this service will have real impacts on improving the quality of literary resources available to children in our area.
“Our goal is to help inspire children to fall in love with reading”, Mr Westman said.
The Mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Peter Besseling, is equally enthusiastic about the launch of the Library Literacy Van.
“Books are an essential learning tool for children, not only through school projects and assignments, but through the improvements in literacy and vocabulary that come from reading.
“This partnership delivers a really practical and long-term benefit to some of the more isolated children in our local government area,” said Councillor Besseling.
Council welcomes the financial investment of $70,000 by The Westport Club, which enabled the purchase and fitout of the van, together with the books to fill it. Council will staff and operate the van for a minimum of two days per week, allowing the program to reach hundreds of local children.
A number of local schools have already signed up to host weekly visits from the Library Literacy Van, recognising that the Van complements school-based literacy programs and resources to provide children with access to the latest age appropriate reading material.
Schools which will receive visits from the Library Literacy Van include the Public Schools of Comboyne, Kendall, Telegraph Point, Long Flat, Rollands Plains, Beechwood, Heron’s Creek and Huntington.
Each school will receive many rostered visits during each school term, which will allow children time to borrow books together and share reading time.
The Library Literacy Van will also participate in relevant broader community activities, such as Book eek, Youth Week, school holiday programs and the Hastings Festival of Stories.
