BRATTLEBORO-The Early Learning Express (ELE) Bookmobile, the local literacy enrichment program run by the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development, was a recent recipient of a national in-kind book award donation grant.
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.
As a part of the annual process of choosing award winners and honor books, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Round Table (CSKBART) Jury Committee receives multiple copies of over 100 titles by African American authors and illustrators, including a full set of the year’s winning and honor titles. Agencies and institutions serving children can make use of these valuable materials.
The CSKBART Donation Grant was created to help build collections and bring books into the lives of children in preschool programs, faith-based reading projects, homeless shelters, charter schools, underfunded libraries, and other community organizations. The ELE Bookmobile was selected as a recipient of a selection of over 70 books appropriate for children ages birth to 5 years.
The grantors determined that the mobile library will value the books and use them in a way that will lift up the African American youth they serve. After being incorporated into the permanent lending library, these books will promote literary representation of Black children in the community and expand the worldview of their classmates living in rural Vermont.
Serving Windham County since 1998, the ELE brings a mobile lending library and literacy enrichment activities to 22 center-based childcare programs and 10 licensed family childcare homes across 14 towns. In 2025, the program served 531 children through 678 interactive story time visits.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.