News from CLiF: A Little Free Library and a very short-story contest
March 13, 2024 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
The Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF) has a new Little Free Library at its headquarters on Rt. 100 in Waterbury Center. Volunteer Jim Cooley and Cassie Willner, literacy program manager, check out new eclipse-themed titles inside for both kids and adults. Courtesy photo
The Children’s Literacy Foundation shares two announcements with a connection to the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse on April 8.
The Waterbury Center-based nonprofit has opened its second annual Two-Sentence Writing Contest with a prompt for stories “that take place in the sky.” Organizers say the contest is loosely tied to the upcoming eclipse and that it draws inspiration from stories and legends ancient civilizations invented to explain sky phenomena.
A more permanent development is a Little Free Library book exchange box added to the organization’s headquarters at 3579 Waterbury-Stowe Road (Vermont Rt. 100). The inaugural collection of books in the little library box is eclipse-themed with titles for both children and adults. The box and first collection of books were supplied through a partnership with the national Little Free Library organization and the Simons Foundation's Science, Society and Culture division.
CLiF Project Specialist Mary Edith Leichliter explained that the little library will be permanent and it will appear on the Little Free Library’s online map of tiny libraries around the world. Although its contents are starting off with an eclipse theme, “over time, it will become a general library,” Leichliter said. “We will always stock a variety of books, both children's and adult titles.”
The little library will be Waterbury’s ninth. A 2022 story on the Waterbury Roundabout highlighted eight other little free libraries in Waterbury, their origins and details on their caretakers.
Keep it short
The Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF) has added a Little Free Library near its headquarters front entrance on Rt. 100 in Waterbury Center. Courtesy photo
CLiF’s first Two-Sentence Writing Contest was held in February 2023 and it drew over 700 submissions from across the two states. It asked youngsters to write about winter and submissions impressed the adult judges with their creativity.
“The range of creative expression demonstrated by the stories was truly amazing,” Leichliter said. “With just two sentences to work with, it’s incredible what kids can come up with. We had comedy, horror, tragedy, sci-fi…you name it. We can’t wait to read the stories generated by this year’s theme!”
Open to all Vermont and New Hampshire children aged 12 and under, the contest is free to enter. Prizes will be awarded to top submissions in each of four categories: Kindergarten and younger; grades 1 and 2; grades 3 and 4; and grades 5 and 6.
The winner of each category will receive a five-book library from CLiF, curated to their age and interests.
Additional details about the contest and a downloadable entry template can be found on CLiF’s website at clifonline.org/writing-contest-2024. Entries must be received by email to communications@clifonline.org or postal mail to: CLiF Writing Contest, 3579 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. The deadline for entries to be received is March 29. Winners will be announced in early April.
Based in Waterbury Center, CLiF is a non-profit organization with a mission to cultivate literacy among young readers and writers in Vermont and New Hampshire.
More information: clifonline.org.