In recent years, West Virginia librarians have launched ventures in electronic media that offer library users more options and more hours of access.

Across the state, three consortiums of libraries offer patrons a large number of electronic offerings, which include e-books, e-videos, e-music and e-audio books. The three are WV-READS (Regional Electronic Audiovisual Download Service), WVDELI (West Virginia Digital Entertainment Library Initiative), and Listen Eastern West Virginia.

Today, young readers are used to downloading reading material to their phones and computers. Older readers are now adopting e-readers like the Kindle because they can adjust the type and make it easier to read.

“We are the information brokers,” said Pamela Coyle, director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library.

“We need to keep current on how people want to receive their technology. Now you can actually sample what the library has without physically coming into the library,” Coyle said.

“The convenience is really popular with library patrons,” she said.o offer.

Read Aloud, a West Virginia nonprofit with the goal of improving child literacy, is looking for volunteers for its reading program. The group, which has been around for more than twenty years, recruits volunteers to visit classrooms, day-care centers, and after-school programs to read to children.

Read Aloud merges community involvement from authors, local libraries, parents, and schoolteachers. They feature an Author of the Month, and partner with local schools so teacher lesson plans incorporate the author’s work into the curriculum.

Parents can also come to the schools to read a featured book of the month to students, and one of the featured authors even used Skype to talk to students about her book.

“If you read well, life is generally easier and better for you,” said Dawn Miller, chairwoman of Read Aloud and editorial page editor of The Charleston Gazette. “When I first started with Read Aloud 18 years ago, I thought the goal was for kids to learn how to read, but over time, I came to realize how much the kids get out of sitting and listening to a good book.”

To volunteer to Read Aloud, call 304.345.5212.

Organizers of the Read Aloud West Virginia program are looking for adult volunteers to read to elementary school children in Kanawha County.

Read Aloud is a non-profit group that aims to improve the national reading test results of young students in West Virginia, by having their volunteers read to them and interact with them.

Read Aloud volunteers visit their assigned schools once a week to read to children, usually keeping to a schedule that works for the students and their teachers-in-charge, as well as for the reading vounteers.

For those interested in volunteering, Read Aloud officials have scheduled a public orientation for March 10 at 1 p.m. at the South Charleston Public Library. Contact Read Aloud West Virginia at 304-345-5212 for more information.

Actress and TV star Jennifer Garner — who grew up in Charleston, spoke on Friday at Ashton Elementary School on behalf of Save the Children. Save the Children is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide impoverished children with quality education, as well as support them through wellness and nutrition programs.

Garner announced that the organization will initiate some of their outreach programs at Ashton Elementary, Beale Elementary and Point Pleasant Primary in Mason County and Geary Elementary, Spencer Elementary and Walton Elementary.

Save the Children volunteers and staff visit parents of young children to promote the importance of reading and educational games in a child’s early years. Home workers also give books, games, and other materials to less fortunate families and set up meetings for them with principals, teachers and other parents at their child’s school.

Garner hoped the program would help the children of the state reach their full potential.

“There is such a need here, and there is so much unmet potential right here in West Virginia,” she said. “The cycle of poverty in this state is going on for generations and generations and generations, and we hope we can provide a new energy to help the kids reach their true potential and avoid that.”

“The kids here are just as smart as any of the kids in the country,” she said.

Garner has worked with Save the Children since last year. She has called for President Barack Obama and Congress to provide $2 billion in additional funding for early childhood education programs. Garner has been to Capitol Hill to meet with other national leaders to discuss the matter.

There are various ways for organization to do this: it can be a public rally, a demonstration or as simple as observing a moment of silence. Interested organizations must register at www.standagainstracism.org and choosing the YWCA Charleston, WV as the local YWCA that invited your organization. Once you register, you will be given a SAR tool kit, with everything you need to know and need for making your stand against racism.

For details and inquiries, visit the YWCA website at wwww.ywcacharleston.org.

Artwork can vary from paintings, sketches, posters and photographs, as long as it is no larger than 11″ x 17″, it is eligible for exhibition. The artwork must show the artist’s interpretation of the theme or anything that embodies the message of eliminating racism and celebrating diversity.

The artworks on exhibit will be judged by a panel based on creativity and representation of the theme. The artwork will also be judged per cateogory based on age. There will be three winners for each category, and an overall “Best in Show” prize. The winning piece will be featured in the cover of the Spring 2010 YWCA newsletter.

Deadline for submission of entries is on April 15, 2010 at 5pm. Submitted pieces will be exhibited at the Clay Center’s main ticketing lobby from April 27 to May 2. Winners will be announced on April 30, at the Eliminating Racism Art Contest Open House at 4:30pm.

For inquiries, details and submission, visit the YWCA website.

This year’s play contest, titled “The River Play” will be performed in one of the main cabins on the riverboat that will shuttle passengers between the Levee in downtown Charleston and the ”Wine and All That Jazz” event taking place on the University of Charleston campus on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

The Rules are as follows:

1. All playwrights must be West Virginia residents.
2. The play must not have been previously produced.
3. Must have 2 to 4 characters of any age/gender
4. Have a running time of 10 minutes
5. The first line of dialogue must be “This is where it gets deep.”
6. Playwrights can submit more than one play. Collaborations between writers are also acceptable.
7. Playwrights must be available to attend the first performance on Saturday, June 26, 2010
8. All plays must be typewritten and mailed to the Charleston Stage Company at 123 Summers Street Charleston, WV 25301 by May 1, 2010 or emailed in WORD or PDF format to charlestonstagecompany@yahoo.comAside from the above rules, the only limits are those of your imagination.

The plays will be read and judged by judges who will consider (among other things) creative use of the dramatic possibilities of the space. For more information, go to the Charleston Stage Company website at www.charlestonstagecompany.com.

This project is made possible, in part, through funding by the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Fund for the Arts.

Underneath the Lintel is a one-man show about a Dutch librarian who attempts to track down a person who returned a book over 100 years overdue. Joe Miller, a Charleston actor, stars the production directed by Geoffrey Coward. The technical crew consisted of CSC Artistic Director David Wohl and Company Manager Marlette Carter. The group performed a 50 minute version of the one-act play.

The full-length version of Underneath the Lintel is CSC’s second scheduled production of the 2009-10 season and will perform at the WVSU Capitol Center Theatre Thursday-Saturday, December 10-12 at 7:30 PM. On-line tickets are available now from the CSC website, www.charlestonstagecompany.com. Regular tickets are $15; student/senior tickets are $10.

Charleston Stage Company will represent West Virginia at the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s regional community theatre festival scheduled in March in Lexington, Kentucky. Theatres from ten states in the Southeastern region of the United States will also participate in the SETC festival.

Run by a small staff and plenty of volunteers, Manna Meal aims to provide meals to the hungry, no questions asked. The organization is not for profit, and relies soley on the contribution of the community.

On October 10, Manna Meal is hosting The Art of Hospitality and Giving: General Seafood Reunion, a fund raising event. It will be held at the Edgewood Country Club, from 6:30pm to 9pm. The evening’s entertainment will be provided by the Pennington Project Band.

Interested parties can buy their tickets to the event at St. John’s Episcopal Churhc, The Purple Moon on Quarrier Street or Geraniums on Bridge Road. Tickets cost $75 each. For more information, call Manna Meal at (304) 345-7121 or visit www.mannameal.com

Midland Trail Scenic Highway Association has come up with a few driving routes on the I-60, passing through West Virginia’s lush landscape. The route takes you through both natural and man-made attractions, appealing to both nature lovers and adventure seekers. The Association’s website has all the guides and details you need for planning this scenics drive. For more information and to request for the destination guide, visit www.midlandtrail.com.

Midland Trail Scenic Highway Association
237 Capitol Street, Charleston, WV 25301
Phone: (304) 343-6001
Fax: (304)344-2210
Website: www.midlandtrail.com