A group of students from Rock Hill's Richmond Drive Elementary School got a very special surprise on Wednesday, May 23, as part of their visit to the York County Library. They met Cocky, the University of South Carolina's mascot, who brought his Reading Express to Rock Hill to emphasize the importance of reading.
Cocky's Reading Express is an award-winning literacy outreach program designed to inspire South Carolina children to read. USC students accompany Cocky in his visits around the state, read aloud to children, and give each child a book.
The Richmond Drive Elementary School students are part of a new Summer Reading Coalition, a partnership between the Rock Hill School District, Richmond Drive Elementary School, the Winthrop University VISTA Program, and the York County Library, to help at-risk students maintain their reading skills over the summer months. Ten students from each grade level in grades K-5 will participate in the pilot program. In addition to encouraging children and families to visit the public library, students will be invited to participate in bi-weekly events at the school during the summer. The York County Library Bookmobile will also make scheduled visits to the school.
York County Library staff got an opportunity to talk with the students about the importance of a library card and the library's summer reading program "Dream Big -- Read!" As a part of this initiative, more than 188 new library cards have been issued to Richmond Drive Elementary students.
For details about Cocky's Reading Express, visit http://www.libsci.sc.edu/ccbl/cockyreadingexpress or contact Christine Rienecker, program coordinator, at 803-734-8207.
