We’re getting a new bookmobile!
The Winston Prouty Center has some exciting news – this year we are getting a new bookmobile! After more 25 years on the road, the current bookmobile will retire this summer, and we will get a fully customized truck delivered just in time for our 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. Read more about it’s original history here.
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 and shelves for easy access to library materials. We are also collecting self-portraits of young children to incorporate into the exterior design of the vehicle.
This purchase of a new bookmobile was made possible with the generous support of the following: Manton Foundation, O.P. & W.E. Edwards Foundation, Thomas Thompson Trust, M&T Charitable Foundation, A.D. Henderson Foundation, Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary and other private foundations.
