Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development

Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development in Brattleboro.

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BRATTLEBORO — The Winston Prouty Center has some exciting news: this year it is getting a new bookmobile. After more 25 years on the road, the current bookmobile will retire this summer, and a fully customized truck will be delivered just in time for the fall season.

The Early Learning Express (ELE) bookmobile program brings early literacy experiences and a lending library to licensed and registered childcare programs across 14 towns in Windham County. Annually, it serves over 550 children and 150 early educators.

The program came under the umbrella of the Winston Prouty Center in 2017 through the merger with Windham Child Care Association (WCCA). Before that, WCCA operated the bookmobile for five years after taking on the program from Windham County Reads, where it began in 1998.

While the 1999 Chevy step van has served the program well, it is now time for a new chapter. The center has purchased a Ford 450 Winnebago which will be fully customized to best meet the needs of the program, including cushioned stadium-seating for story time and colorful, front-facing book bins for easy access to library materials.

To help design the new bookmobile, Winston-Prouty is seeking drawings by local children. The new design will honor the history of the program by using self-portraits of young children in the community. The current vehicle features drawings by children enrolled in Timson Hill Preschool back in 2010, and now it's time for a new generation of artists to make their mark on this treasured community resource!

Families can join the fun by having their child draw one (or more) of the following:

• Draw a picture of yourself.

• Draw a picture of a book.

• Draw a picture of you reading a book.

Drawings must be in black felt tip pen on white paper. Artwork must be submitted by Wednesday, April 30th. Entries can be dropped off at Thomas Hall, 209 Austine Drive, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

All those who submit an entry will receive a participation prize and the selected artists will be recognized at a special unveiling event when the vehicle arrives.

Community members can follow along with this fun adventure throughout the spring and summer by visiting www.winstonprouty.org/bookmobile or tuning into Winston Prouty’s social media pages.

The new bookmobile purchase was made possible with generous support from the Thomas Thompson Trust, M&T Charitable Foundation, A.D. Henerson Foundation, Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary and other private foundations.

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