TAMIU Annual Report 2022

UNIVERSITY FACULTY Famed author Garrison Keillor once said, “A book is a gift you can open again and again.” In April, a group of TAMIU students delivered 100 gift children’s books they authored to be opened by students of the TAMIU-Lamar Bruni Vergara Literacy Partnership (TAMIU-LBV). The TAMIU students are part of TAMIU Border Lit , comprised of current students and alumni of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Multicultural Children’s Literature course promoting representation of border communities in children’s literature. The collaborative service-learning project was started in Fall 2020 by Dr. Kaitlyn M. Culliton , TAMIU assistant professor of English, to support both early literacy acquisition and celebrate the border. It was initially inspired by the legacy of late TAMIU faculty member Dr. Francis “Panchita” Rhodes , who was committed to educating future leaders about children’s literature. TAMIU BORDER LIT DELIVERS 100 STUDENT-AUTHORED BOOKS TO TAMIU-LBV LITERACY PARTNERSHIP “Students enrolled in the Multicultural Children’s Literature course for Fall and Spring semesters each wrote a children’s book to support early literacy acquisition in the Laredo community. These 100 books were donated to the TAMIU-LBV Literacy Partnership. Partnership tutors will use them to tutor students in the community. They largely focus on border culture, diversity and inclusion, and family and identity. Together, we want to encourage literacy in young readers by increasing access to children’s works that authentically represent the Laredo community,” Dr. Culliton explained. TAMIU students wrote, illustrated, and published original picture books that engage with their community and reflect their experiences. TAMIU Border Lit students and alumni gather to share their gift of children’s books with the TAMIU-Lamar Bruni Vergara Literacy Partnership. 15