With Jefferson County ranking among the least literate of Florida counties, the Florida Institute of Education (FIE) at UNF has stepped in to help children become better exposed to community-based learning programs.

The Jefferson County Literacy Alliance was established in 2015 when an anonymous donor contributed $453,000 to the R.J. Bailar Public Library, specifying that they wanted it to go towards impacting children’s literacy.

“Natalie Binder, the library director, went online and saw that here at FIE, we have a curriculum called the Early Literacy and Learning Model,” said Madelaine Cosgrove, the Associate Director for School Readiness with the FIE. “It’s a comprehensive curriculum and it includes all of the domains for early literacy.”

After learning about the FIE’s national research and contributions, Binder called in the UNF hosted branch for help in fulfilling the wishes of the donor.

According to Cosgrove, the library and FIE executives collaborated in order to build a three-year proposal that was submitted to the donor. Once approved, teachers, researchers and community members alike buckled down to implement the new literacy program.

The program has three main goals: to make early literacy and reading core values for Jefferson County, to raise early literacy readiness and achievement and to raise families’ awareness of the importance of early literacy.

This year is the second year that the literacy program has been making waves among the youngest students in Jefferson County. The alliance has also recruited various daycare centers, outreaches and public classrooms in order to make for a well-rounded community effort.

The longstanding goal is to provide Jefferson County with the resources and information necessary for it to continue to build literacy skills and curriculum on its own.

“FIE is not going to be there forever,” Cosgrove explained. “Our goal is to build the capacity in Jefferson County to implement these programs on their own, and create new programs to make literacy and learning a priority for all children.”

Not only has the literacy program been recently approved for its third expected contract year, but the original donor has reached back out to the R.J. Bailar Library and the FIE in order to create a new proposal for further renewal in the future.

An additional proposal would allow the program to continue working in Jefferson County for at least another three years after the current contract has expired.

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