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HERE’S A PRIMER ON SOME OF THE AREA’S READING SUPPORT GROUPS THAT ADVOCATE FOR, SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE READING:

n Grand Traverse Probate Court Learning Partners: Formed in 1981, Learning Partner volunteers in the Grand Traverse Probate Court support elementary school-age students in need of academic assistance with an emphasis on and sensitivity toward their social development. They work with a student on an individual basis and in conjunction with the classroom teacher.

n Friends of the Traverse Area District Library: A nonprofit organization founded in 1982, the Friends encourage the use of TADL and work to build greater awareness of the library, its programs and its role in cultural and educational development of the district. Membership in 2012 totaled 225.

n TC Reads: A “One Book, One Community” literacy initiative, the goal of the 12-year-old TC Reads project is to get the community to read and discuss the same book once a year and bring the author to town to talk about the book. A committee of about eight people spends several months reading many books and looking for one that will have broad community interest for many ages. They select only books that are in paperback to keep the project affordable, also checking to make sure the author’s speaking fee is within reach before selecting a title. TC Reads and the Friends of TADL split expenses, which can range between $13,000 to $15,000.

n Born to Read: Based on the idea that it’s never too early to read to a child, this national early literacy program was adopted last year by the Traverse City Twilight Rotary Club in partnership with Munson Medical Center and TADL. New parents at Munson can sign on for a follow-up visit with a nurse and receive Welcome Baby kits that include a book, music CD of nursery rhymes and a certificate for an additional book and tote bag from a local library.

n ReadAloud.org: This program asks parents to “Join the 15 Minute Movement” by reading 15 minutes a day to their children. It also puts an age-appropriate “Big Box of Books” into the hands of at-risk families and provides them with learning programs to make the most of reading aloud\.

Related Photos

  • Ruth Bay, a Traverse City reading tutor and Friends of the Traverse City Area District Library president, is involved in many area tutoring and reading advocacy groups. Record-Eagle/Loraine Anderson

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January 13, 2013

Cheerleader for literacy, reading and children

By LORAINE ANDERSON landerson@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Ruth Bay loves reading so much that she's spent the last 30 years trying to share that joy.

Bay is a volunteer tutor and mentor in a Traverse City elementary school through the Grand Traverse Probate Court Learning Partners program.

She is also a board member for the Grand Traverse Literacy Council, which works with adults. She's president of the Friends of the Traverse Area District Library; through that, she serves on various committees that help support events like the National Writers Series and Poets' Night Out.

She's deeply involved in TC Reads, an annual community reading of a selected book that is now entering its 13th year.

She's also active in the Born to Read and ReadAloud early literacy programs.

Through her work with the Probate Court, she also has served as a court-appointed special advocate to protect the interests, health and safety of children who have been removed from their homes because of neglect or abuse.

Why does Bay care so much about literacy, young children and parents reading to their children?

"It's so important, once you understand the doors it opens up and the horizons it widens," she said. "And it's another level of helping children. I find it rewarding to be involved in something that I think can make a difference."

Brain research indicates that the time between birth and kindergarten is critical for development of the brain architecture, reading proponents say. Reading aloud to young children is important in that process. Listening to short stories, even by newborns, can help infants recognize sounds and words and prepare them for the classroom and a lifetime of reading.

"Many parents weren't read to as children and don't realize the importance of reading to their children," Bay said.

Research increasingly shows the importance of early proficiency in reading. The first three grades are considered extremely important as students switch from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," because children continue to build upon prior knowledge to develop grade-level academic skills and knowledge. Students who fall behind early on have a harder time catching up by third grade because teachers are beginning to use written text to teach science, history, math or literature, says a 2010 report by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University in Rhode Island.

The probate court volunteer tutor-friend addresses attempts to confront that as well as other issues.

"We work with elementary students who are recommended by the schools because they are on the edge of falling behind, mostly in math, reading and spelling," Bay said. "Quite often there are social issues and low self esteem."

Volunteers also take the students swimming, ice skating, fishing at Sabin Pond or to Old Town Playhouse dress rehearsals, sometimes with the whole family — if the subject is appropriate.

Bay said both her parents read to her as she was growing up in a family of five children.

"I learned a lot from my parents and was encouraged to give back," she said.

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