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RFK Jr. taps eight new members for CDC's vaccine advisory panel; CO communities to join national 'No Kings' protests Saturday; End of hospital emergency abortion care rule will affect rural KY women; LIHEAP cuts could put lives at risk in rural AL, advocates warn.

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White House says there will be more ICE raids, as protests spread across the county. California Gov. Newsom says democracy is at a crossroads, and Elon Musk says he 'regrets' social media posts about President Trump.

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EV charging stations are harder to find in rural America, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven rural states, and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

#GetCaughtReading: Weeklong Campaign Encourages Reading for All Ages

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Monday, September 17, 2018   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Governor's Books from Birth Foundation this week is urging people in Tennessee to take a picture of themselves reading.

Tennessee's Imagination Library Week is celebrating the program first piloted by singer Dolly Parton almost 30 years ago.

Now with programs in 49 states and several countries, the campaign to send children from birth to age five a new book once a month is changing lives, according to Dean Hoskins, vice president of the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation.

"Just by the virtue of having books in the home, children are more likely to succeed, not just as they enter kindergarten but at third-grade reading levels,” she states. “But also we have seen that parents do engage around books with their children when they are in the home."

Neighboring North Carolina just confirmed funding for a program modeled after Tennessee.

This week as part of the campaign, the state is encouraging people to take a picture of themselves reading and post it on social media with the hashtag #GetCaughtReading.

Hoskins says while the social media effort is a great way to increase public awareness, it's also about making sure reading is modeled for our younger generation.

"We want to raise awareness of how important it is for children to see adults in their lives and older siblings in their lives, reading, that reading is an integral part of everything that happens in family life," she stresses.

More than 1 million children have participated in the program. A state study in 2014 found increased school testing scores for children who received the free books, which are available to all, regardless of income.


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