 o have a good understanding of the role the media will play in your project is crucial to your success. The important thing to keep in mind is that the media stand to benefit from your project as much or more than anyone else. This is especially true for your local newspaper as they depend on high literacy rates for citizens to subscribe to and read their product, whether hard copy or online. While a person does not have to be literate to watch television or listen to the radio, the employees and owners of retail stores do, because they must be successful in order to buy and pay for advertising.
 he workhorse of your project will be your local daily or weekly newspaper since they are the voice of the community. All the other help you receive will really be icing on the cake, and it will be considerable. We have received tremendous support from our local newspaper, the Log Cabin Democrat, but also from our local cable television channel, and from all three affiliate network stations in the Little Rock market. The first step is to survey all the media outlets in your community. And don’t overlook specialty magazine publications.
 ll of these people are in the news and information business and always on the lookout for good stories that will be of interest to their viewers, listeners, and readers. Your local newspaper will provide feature stories, announcements and other news to let your citizens know that you are beginning a “Bookcase for Every Child” project and to keep them informed of your needs and your progress. When we first began we had a gently-used children’s book drive, supported and promoted by the Log Cabin Democrat, and we received over 6,000 donated books in just three months.
 ince the early days we have had six-to-eight above-the-fold, front page articles, and many others in various parts of the paper. Our first Bookcase Literacy Banquet was covered by two more front page articles and our local cable television channel filmed the banquet and ran it several times for local viewers. The great music carried the day and our bookcase project has literally become the talk of the town. This can happen in your community with the support of your local media.
o receive media coverage, in most cases, all you would need to do is to contact them and let them know what you are doing and give them the details --time, location, date, etc. The point to keep in mind is that when you have outstanding people on your central committee, one or more will have friends and contacts at every media outlet in your area. Most people love to help others and you will find much more support for your project than you ever dreamed possible.
 ur goal for this Website is to provide all the information and details necessary for any community in America to develop and carry-out a successful bookcase project. Your local newspaper can publish a story and provide the address for this site, www.bookcaseforeverychild.com, and inform more people about what you are doing. As more and more of your citizens read and study it, they will get the vision of what this project can mean to your children and your community in the months and years to come.
good analogy would be a bus starting out on a long journey and there are a few people on board. As you continue to travel, the bus will make frequent stops and more people will get on board until, before long, you have a bus full of committed people who want to improve literacy in your community. At this point another bus can start out and make stops until it is full, then another. Remember, it takes everyone working together to improve literacy and make your community a better place to work and live. Every community of any size has progressive, caring people who will get involved. Have faith, it will happen. All Aboard!!
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