Yippee! Numbers are slowly rolling in from the 2010 Bookmark Challenge. We’ll be updating this number throughout the year as different participants complete their programs. In case you haven’t heard, we’re Stitching for Literacy year-round now. Hmm, we’re going to need a calendar here so we can see who’s doing what when.

Bookmarks at Fancy Works in Bloomington, IN. Liz and Dianna collected over 100 bookmarks from just 12 stitchers. They are donated to the Monroe County Public Library in
Bloomington, IN, the Ellettsville Branch in Ellettsville, IN, and Edgewood Jr. High School.

Our collections have risen steadily over the years.

• 2007: 429 bookmarks collected
• 2008: 638 bookmarks collected
• 2009: 1,023 bookmarks collected

At the beginning of 2010, I stated a goal of 4,000 hand-stitched bookmarks to celebrate our fourth year of Stitching for Literacy. The number I present today is not the final count. It does not include counts from most of the EGA chapters that participated, and several participants are still collecting or will collect later in the year. Even so, our current count is

Woot! Congratulations, stitchers! Way to rise to the Bookmark Challenge. Your generosity and support for both literacy and embroidery warm my now-thawing Alaskan toes.

We are by no means finished. Kids who don’t read over the summer actually lose educational ground. It’s especially important that we encourage them to read to maintain proficiency over the summer, and it’s the perfect time for purely fun reading.

It’s also a good time to teach kids to stitch, encouraging creativity and improving literacy simultaneously.

So…what will you read and stitch this summer?