February 10, 1999		Grant Helps Buy Books for Volunteer Literacy Program in Oberlin's Schools Media Contact: Mark Graham
			EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: Photo Opportunity at Prospect Elementary School OBERLIN, Ohio--With a $4,000 grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Oberlin College-Oberlin Public Schools America Reads project will create 85 reading bags for children in the Oberlin Public Schools. The bags will contain stories, a nonfiction book that deals with similar topics as the story, discussion questions and educational activities for third-graders. Student volunteers will use the bags to help tutor children on reading skills and proficiency. More bags also will be created for other grade levels throughout the semester. They will be available to more than 200 other children, parents, and teachers in the Prospect Elementary School library. Some will be kept in the College's Center for Service and Learning for use in tutoring programs. "These bags are an innovative way to bring books to tutors and their students," says Caitlin Scott, youth education coordinator at the Center for Service and Learning. The Center for Service and Learning and the local nonprofit agency Oberlin Community Services coordinate the Oberlin College-Oberlin Public Schools America Reads program. The Cleveland-based Martha Holden Jennings Foundation fosters the development of young people through improving the quality of education in elementary and secondary schools in Ohio.