By Susan Motander
Monrovia’s Literacy Van will continue to roll during the summer months, but in a slightly different role. The van has been going to the local elementary schools for the last several months since it was introduced to the community. Now its use will change slightly. It will be augmenting the summer school programs at the elementary schools and will be used for special events as well.
Since the program began several months ago, the van has been going to a different elementary school each weekday bringing the library to the students. Since it is Wi-Fi equipped, the youngsters can check books out of the van as if they were at the library itself. They can even get Library cards at the van.
During summer school the van will be at Wild Rose Elementary School from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. on June 20 and 27, and July 11. It will also appear at Plymouth for its Camp Read-A-Lot summer program again from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. on June 21 and 28, and July 12.
But the Literacy Van will also make special appearances at other events such as the “Kick Off of the Summer Reading Program.” This will take place at Monrovia’s Station Square on June 14 starting at 6:30 p.m. It will also make an appearance at the Friday night festival on June 29. The van will be in Library Park on that day from 5 – 6:30 p.m.
In a new outreach program begun earlier this month, the van is going to the Huntington Oaks Shopping Center on the first Saturday of each month. The initial appearance was last weekend and it will again show up at the Shopping Center on July 7 and August 4 from 10 a.m. – noon.
The van is the very public face of Monrovia Reads, the community’s non-profit dedicated to 100% literacy in the city. While sponsored by Monrovia Reads, the van was also made possible by generous donations from Foothill Credit Union and the Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association. Generous support also came from the Monrovia Library Foundation as well. The project would not be possible without the support of the City of Monrovia itself that supplies not only the staff for the van, but also the books in it (as well as the gas that powers it).
