Casper Cares, Casper Reads

By Hilery Walker, Community Relations Coordinator

May 3, 2006

It is time to celebrate children, literacy and the power the written word has to shape one’s future during the 8th annual Casper Cares, Casper Reads event.  Taking place on Tuesday, May 16, the celebration will be held at the Natrona County Public Library and Nicolaysen Art Museum.  Over 900 first-graders are expected to participate in this year’s event, which will begin at 10:30 AM and conclude at 1:30 PM.  A number of “Celebrity Readers” will be seated around the Library to share picture books with the students.  At the Nic, the first-graders will be treated to a special fairytale about “the Good Queen Sue” narrated by John Jorgensen and performed by Stage III Theatre.  Each student will also receive a book and 200 hundred participants will be given their first library cards. The following number of children chose these titles for the event:
         
“Knuffle Bunny,” by Mo Williams – 324
“Diary of a Spider,” by Doreen Cronin – 216
“Tough Boris,” by Mem Fox – 127
 “Waiting for Wings,” by Lois Ehlert – 91
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by Eric Carle – 88
 “Where the Wild Things are,” by Maurice Sendak– 65

Over 50 community members have agreed to donate their time as “Celebrity Readers” and share the books listed above with the children.  Some readers will include Nathan and Christi Bekke, Dr. Jim Lowham, Carol Crump, Dr. Brent Pickett, Jane Sullivan, Bob and Carol Tarantola and Bill Sullivan.  Additionally, 150 people will be volunteering as chaperones, guides, food servers and helpers for the children.

Partners in this year’s celebration include the Natrona County School District #1, Natrona County Public Library, Nicolaysen Art Museum, McMurry Foundation, PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning (the charitable arm of Rocky Mountain Power, formerly Pacific Power), Tonkin Foundation, Wyoming Community Foundation, United Methodist Thrift Store, Casper Rotary Club, Wyoming State Library and a number of generous individuals. 

John Jorgensen leads this group of extraordinary educators and civic leaders. John established the Sue Jorgensen Library Foundation in 1996 and founded Casper Cares, Casper Reads to honor his late wife's commitment to literacy and children. "She had two great passions in life – children and literacy,” says John. “She believed children needed to be able to read to fulfill their potential in life."  These ideas are the heart of this important community enterprise. 

2006 marks the first year that Casper Cares, Casper Reads has been expanded statewide as Wyoming Reads, and in honor of this celebration Governor Dave Freudenthal has declared May 16 “Wyoming Literacy Day.”  Through the fundraising efforts of the Sue Jorgensen Library Foundation, all of the 6,049 participating first-graders from across the state will receive books in memory of this special event.  Each community’s event is organized by a combination of civic leaders, the public library and school district, and out of Wyoming’s 23 counties, 21 will be participating.  For more information on Casper Cares, Casper Reads or Wyoming Reads, please visit www.natronacountylibrary.org. 

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