STATEWIDE – As part of its Ready to Lead in Literacy (RTLL) educational outreach, NJN Public Television and Radio recently launched an initiative in the state’s correctional institutions in which inmates are encouraged to read quality children’s literature to their children during family visits. NJN provides the books and other materials in the Share A Story Book Buddies Program.

NJN works with education coordinators at the prisons and provides all necessary materials. Each interested facility receives 30 books that remain at the location, promotional posters, and sign-up sheets. After inmates read to their children, each child is given a Buddy Bag, which contains a certificate, a Share A Story bookmark, a copy of PBS Families, two activity booklets, and two quality children’s books to help build up each child’s home library.

Currently, ten of New Jersey Department of Corrections institutions have enrolled in NJN’s Share A Story program, Riverfront State Prison in Camden, NJ — the latest institution join — had more than three dozen inmates register for the program on the weekend of January 12 and 13, 2008 when the program was formally implemented.

“With education at the heart of NJN’s mission, we see the Share A Story program as an important service that we can offer to New Jersey’s correctional facilities that will promote literacy development, bring families closer through a one-on-one activity, and provide opportunities that will enrich the lives of inmates and their children,” said NJN Executive Director Elizabeth Christopherson.

According to George W. Hayman, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, the program’s benefits include “improved literacy skills, a more structured visit program and the promotion of a positive, family-friendly activity.” If inmates have limited literacy skills, they receive services to help them improve.

NJN’s mission is to inform, educate and inspire, and RTLL fulfills this by promoting early literacy skills
through workshops and the distribution of free books and other educational resources for parents, teachers and
caregivers. Outreach to correctional institutions is a logical extension of these goals. RTLL is funded by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Trina Pryor is NJN’s RTLL Program Administrator. Margaret Jaeger, who developed the Share a Story Book Buddies initiative, is the Educational Consultant for the NJN RTLL Program.

BACKGROUND
Ready to Lead in Literacy (RTLL) supports parents, teachers and caregivers in using PBS Programs to help children love learning. The service promotes partnerships between PBS stations and community organizations, such as child-care centers, schools, libraries, businesses, civic groups and governmental agencies, to enable adults to receive the training and materials that extend the programs' educational impact. Workshops are being offered through the regional and local libraries.

Share A Story is a national PBS public service campaign to promote children’s literacy. Through Share A Story, NJN is able to build on its ongoing family literacy programs and services to make a difference in the lives of New Jersey's children. Share A Story incorporates current research on the broad impact of language on early literacy development. The campaign explores how reading books, telling stories, and singing songs develop children’s vocabulary, comprehension, phonological awareness, and knowledge of narrative. It enables virtually any family member or caregiver to help a child, regardless of their own literacy level or access to books.

NJN - New Jersey’s only statewide broadcast television network and public service media resource - provides
New Jersey-centric news and public affairs programming; programs focusing on the arts, the environment, education, and history; access to enriched learning opportunities for K-12 and adult learners; and emergency
communications. NJN community-based, community-focused, community-supported.

NJN is available on all New Jersey cable systems, satellite systems, and Time Warner Cable channel 750 in NYC.
State of the Arts is also available via video streaming at njn.net after the original broadcast.
Additionally, the program is repeated on NJN’s JerseyVision available on Comcast Digital Cable in New Jersey.
(Check http://www.njn.net/digital/schedule.html for detailed listings.)
NJN – Uniquely New Jersey
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