Beginning in 2013, The Hudson Literacy Fund channeled amazing creativity to develop a host of diverse, fun, kid-friendly programs that spread literacy to students and their families. We’re proud of those programs, and they really hit their mark.
Financial Gifts for College Bound Seniors
Every year, The Hudson Literacy Fund hosts an essay-writing contest for high-school seniors planning to go college. Our challenge to seniors: write an essay about a book you’ve read and explain how it has influenced your life. In June, three deserving students are awarded a scholarship, including the Lisa Dolan Literary Award (Lisa is a co-founder of the Hudson’s Children Book Festival and one of HLF’s board members). Each Spring, many students have entered and received college funds from HLF.
Good Fors
Since 2013, the Literacy Fund has given out “Good Fors” (vouchers good for a free book at the Hudson Children’s Book Festival). There, at one of New York State’s largest book festivals, kids meet many dozens of authors and get a free book of their choice. In 2017, thanks to amazing support from our donors, we gave a Good For to every student in the Hudson City School District—that’s almost 2,000 kids. Festival attendance by entire families increased. To date, more than 5,000 vouchers have been redeemed for a book.
Because of the pandemic, the HCBF was canceled in 2020, 2021, and 2022. For the 2022 season, the HLF Board pivoted, offering a curated list of books for elementary, middle, and high-school students to choose from. More than 1400 books were ordered from The Spotty Dog, our local book store. The books’ authors signed HLF-branded book plates, which were affixed to the books at our April board meeting and delivered to the students in May.
Got Desks?
The Hudson Literacy Fund, with a grant from The Berkshire Taconic Foundation Fund for Columbia County, partnered with Staples to provide 100 free folding desks and ear buds for virtual Hudson learners.
Hudson School Libraries
Enrichment Program
We began our Library Enrichment Program in 2018. Since then, we’ve donated new copies of more than 3,000 K-12 titles to the Hudson City School District libraries. That’s largely thanks to our collaborations with Penguin Random House Books and The New York Times Book Review, with contributions from others, too. We are always looking for publishers who will donate new books to improve Hudson’s public-school libraries. (If you’re one of those publishers, please email us.)
Sharing Our Stories
“Sharing our Stories” is an ongoing program designed to help students process the events of the pandemic. All interested students are given a personal journal and a pencil to write about their experiences and feelings. We feel that this program will encourage them to express themselves and engage in the sharing of their stories, all the while providing a good writing experience.
Thumbs Up Award
Our “Thumbs Up” reading program encourages kids to read the books of authors who are coming to the Hudson Children’s Book Festival. In the lead-up to the festival, Hudson students write a book review in their own words and then award the book between one and five “thumbs up.” Our kids have written more than 5,000 reviews! And they are clear, funny, and to the point! Then, on the eve of the festival, and across three reading grade levels, The Hudson Literacy Fund presents awards to the six authors with the most “thumbs up.” Those award-winning authors are thrilled to receive this honor and proudly display their certificates at their tables at the festival the following day.
“The “Thumbs Up” program has helped our students read many more books than they might have. Students read and give their own careful review of books, cultivating a skill they’ll need throughout their academic careers. Overall, the Literacy Fund has fostered a love of books and led students to conversations with each other and their teachers about stories and ideas that might not have happened otherwise. It’s been a great collaboration.”
— Mark Brenneman
Principal, Montgomery C. Smith Elementry School
The Young Writers Competition
The Young Writers Competition was designed in 2017 to engage ninth- through twelfth-grade Hudson High School students in a program that promotes literacy. Our competition encourages young writers to create original works of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. All entries are judged by a jury of local established authors. Since inception, we have received more than 100 entries and have given fifteen monetary awards for original works in all of the categories.