Communications Department - (360) 943-5001 - Fax 586-6838 - 415 Airdustrial Way SW - Olympia, WA 98501
Reference & Information line: 704-INFO in Olympia area or toll-free 1-800-562-6022. 
TRL Web site: http://www.trlib.org 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, 360-704-4508, or 1-877-284-6237, ext. 2508; e-mail: lingle@trlib.org.

Spreading the word about literacy groups in Grays Harbor and celebrating International Literacy Day, The Bank of the Pacific, in partnership with the Aberdeen Timberland Library, the Timberland Regional Library Foundation (TRLF), the Grays Harbor Literacy Program and local author, Barbara Twibell, offers the public an opportunity to learn about local literacy organizations at an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday September 12 at the bank’s Aberdeen branch, 300 E. Market Street.

TRLF secretary, Helen Hepp of Montesano, and a librarian from the Aberdeen Timberland Library will provide information about literacy programs and materials at the Aberdeen and Hoquiam Timberland libraries. Staff from Grays Harbor College will be available to talk about the Grays Harbor Literacy Program that is administered through the college. Local author, Barbara Twibell, will visit with guests and sign copies of her new book, Daughter of the Gorge, a novel of a young woman who returns to her childhood home, her grandmother’s ranch in the Columbia River Gorge. People can visit with all these participants throughout the day. Coffee and cookies will be served.

International Literacy Day (officially September 8) was founded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1967 to promote the vital importance of literacy to people in achieving their goals as family members, citizens, workers and lifelong learners.

Organizers Kathy Erickson and Kate Breckon, will host the bank’s literacy day event. Mrs. Erickson is the manager of The Bank of the Pacific’s head office in Aberdeen and the TRLF treasurer. Ms. Breckon is an accounts representative at the bank.

Mrs. Erickson’s interest in literacy and libraries developed through a lifetime of family traditions and history. "My mom (Dora Griffiths) was a dedicated reader, a gift she gave to my sister and me. My husband Roney is a schoolteacher—he and Mom would have spelling contests. She could spell so well because of her reading," she said. Roney Erickson’s great grandfather, Frederick Knack, built Hoquiam’s library, which opened in 1911.

For more information about the bank’s International Literacy Day event, call either of the organizers at the bank at 360-533-8870.

Timberland Regional Library serves Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties at 27 community libraries and 6 school-based cooperative library centers. For information on any subject, the public can telephone Timberland’s Central Reference Service librarians at 704-INFO (704-4636) from Thurston County, Shelton and Oakville or 1-800-562-6022, toll-free, from all other areas in the district. Or they can "Ask a Librarian" online at http://www.trlib.org/asklib.htm. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library 4 days in advance.

Revised 09/11/03