On Friday, March 2, in schools across the county, 75 “local heroes” took time out of their day to read to different classes of elementary school students. The event—organized by the Talbot County Free Library in partnership with Talbot County Public Schools, the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce, and others—was part of the National Endowment for the Art’s annual Read Across America program. This year, locally, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Talbot County’s most famous native son, the event was called “Frederick Douglass Read Across Talbot County.” Douglass once famously said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
Sheriff Joe Gamble, County Councilman Corey Pack, State’s Attorney Scott Patterson, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum President Kristen Greenaway were among those who took time out of their busy schedules to demonstrate to local children how important they think reading is. In a thank you note to the class he read in, the library’s Bill Peak wrote, “You know I give readings to grown-ups all the time, but I have to tell you I have never had a more enthusiastic and receptive audience than the one I found in Mrs. Burkhardt’s second grade classroom at St. Michaels Elementary School.”
For more information about events being held in celebration of the Frederick Douglass bicentennial, please visit www.fd200.org. For more information about library programming, please call the library at 410-822-1626, or visit www.tcfl.org.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.