UNIVERSITY NEWS
Campaigns and Awards and TV, Oh My!
Children’s Literature Centre Celebrates 40 Years in the Spotlight
BY TY DEMARTINO '90
While ruby is the traditional gift for any 40th anniversary, Frostburg State University’s Children’s Literature Centre has been taking home the gold this year.
As the CLC celebrates four decades of promoting children’s literature through campus and community events, the Centre has been in the spotlight with a successful fundraising campaign, a state award and recognition from a national TV show.
The year started with the launch of a $40,000 capital campaign for the program’s endowment. At last year’s Bobcat Giving Day, the CLC raised the most donors and earned a prize of $10,000 from the FSU Foundation Board of Directors, in addition to their funds raised that day.
“Our involvement in last year’s Giving Day was so exciting,” said Dr. Sarah O’Neal, CLC director ’04 M’05. “We are now getting closer to our $40,000 goal and cannot wait to celebrate this milestone at our Spring Festival of Children’s Literature in April.”
And the honors have kept coming.
This past fall, the Centre was formally given the William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award for its work of “installing a love of reading in children.” Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot visited the FSU campus to present the award. Dr. William Bingman, professor emeritus and CLC co-founder, said the Centre’s accolades can be accredited to a team effort.
“The passion that we have, as well as the invaluable support and participation of so many groups and individuals from the City of Frostburg, FSU students and staff, local businesses, schools and our dedicated alumni is at the heart of CLC’s successes,” said Bingman.
The entire nation got the see that heart when UpTV’s “A Small Town Christmas” came to Frostburg to film the CLC’s most successful annual event. Frostburg’s Storybook Holiday transforms the City of Frostburg into a winter wonderland to promote children’s literature. The show’s host Megan Alexander and her crew spent several days filming leading up to the celebration. The episode was broadcast mid-December showcasing all the Storybook Holiday magic.
According to Dr. Barbara Ornstein, professor emeritus and associate CLC director, local residents, the campus and alumni were thrilled to see their University and familiar faces featured on the episode.
UPtv's Megan Alexander at Storybook Holiday.
“We have received so many comments and reactions from alumni who were thrilled to see the City of Frostburg, the CLC, as well as our wonderful FSU student volunteers featured in the program,” said Ornstein. “Alumni, particularly those who participated as elves when they were students, have been thrilled to see how the event has grown over the past 19 years. Our students and alumni have always been the core of the magic of Storybook Holiday.”
Organizers promise special plans for Storybook Holiday’s 20th anniversary in 2023. In the meantime, the CLC team is grateful and counting its blessings.
“We truly are blessed to have so many involved in creating our literature events for educators and the Frostburg community,” Bingman added.
To watch the Frostburg episode of “Small Town Christmas,” visit uptv.com. For more information about the FSU Children’s Literature Centre, visit www.frostburg.edu/childrens-literature-centre.