DC Media Centers Extend Hours

While recent budget cuts have forced public libraries in Washington, DC, to reduce services, a nonprofit group called Turning the Page has launched after-school literacy programs at six elementary school libraries serving economically disadvantaged children.

Now in its third year, "Community Nights at the Library" is being held at Merritt, Randle-Highlands, Seaton, Hendley, Simon, and Garfield elementary schools, where volunteers read to children while parents attend workshops that give reading and storytelling tips and demonstrate the importance of reading to children. The program, funded by the Freddie Mac Foundation, also includes visits by children's authors and the distribution of free books.

A follow-up spring workshop will use children's literature to teach kids how to resolve conflicts peacefully at home and school. Carolyn Flowers, a librarian at Hendley Elementary School, says Community Nights "gives parents insight into how to share books with children."

For more information about the programs, visit their Web site (www.turningthepage.org).