Share a Story ~ Shape a Future 2011 Begins Today

Welcome to Share a Story ~ Shape a Future 2011. This is our third annual blog tour for literacy, and if we must say so ourselves, it is our biggest yet! Holy cow what a lineup of folks this week.

As you may remember from other posts, the theme this year is Unwrapping the Gift of Literacy. We picked this theme because it embodies several ideas ...

• that the ability to read IS a gift ... one that lasts a lifetime; and
• that literacy is a gift we can easily give to and share with someone else ... with minimal cost.

And who doesn't like receiving and giving presents?

Over the course of the week bloggers from around the world will be sharing their personal stories and offering tips that we hope will encourage and/or inspire you to share YOUR gift with someone in your family and/or community. 

I know I said it the other day, but it's worth repeating: Although our focus is on young readers-to-be and readers-in-need, there are millions of adults who don't know how to read. If working with adults is something that interests you, we encourage you to visit Zoe's well-annotated list of literacy charities from around the world at Playing by the Book or our Reading & Literacy Wiki.

Now, on with our kickoff. Today's theme - The Power of a Book - is so big that we need co-hosts.

Carol Rasco, President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental, mom, grandma, and energizer bunny, will start us off with The Power of a Book: 380 Million Times to Date! Join Carol at Rasco from RIF as she ...

• shares the RIF experience of presenting a choice of books to children who have often never owned a book of their own until their first RIF distribution. 
• shares memories of RIF kids who, years later, recall that moment and how it affected them for years to come
• explains a recent meta-analysis about the positive outcomes of book lending programs. 

Carol also has a number of guest bloggers who will share their organization’s experience in presenting books to children. Among them ...

• Riley Carney (teen author, blogger, and founder of Breaking the Chain), who writes about The Power of the Written Word; and
• Kyle Zimmer of First Book, a Washington, DC-based literacy nonprofit that has donated 80 million books to date.Kyle's post First Book and RIF: The Gift of Literacy can be found on Bookmark, the First Book Blog.

Be sure to go to Rasco from RIF for Carol's full lineup.

Donalyn Miller, aka the Book Whisperer, is a mom, educator, and rabid reader! She and her guests will be talking about the intangible power of a book. Her post is rife with personal examples of just how a book can change your life.

• Paul W. Hankins, the moderator for RAW INK online, turns the concepts of used books and remainder notes on their ears in this very personal story about a student, a book, and an author.
• Terri Lesesne (aka The Goddess of YA Literature) not only talks about all of the things a book can do, but she offers her own personal story, as well. 

As direct links to posts go live, we will come back and update this post.

Image credit
Presents animated gif - bestgraphs.com