Bristol Library Director Jud Barry with some of the bookmarks and the children's classic "Charlotte's Web."
BRISTOL, VA -- The Bristol TN/VA Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America helped the Bristol Public Library celebrate World Read Aloud Day on March 9, 2011, with the gift of 42 bookmarks for the library. The bookmarks were all hand-stitched by members of the Bristol chapter of the EGA.
The Bristol EGA chapter made the bookmarks as part of a national EGA initiative to promote literacy. They were presented on World Read Aloud Day, which is an event that raises awareness of the need for basic literacy education worldwide.
"The bookmarks are such an appropriate way to help the library promote its literacy activities for all ages," said library director Jud Barry. "We'll be able to use them as special prizes and gifts to our patrons. Few things have as much meaning as a handmade gift." The bookmarks exhibit a number of different embroidery styles, from cross-stitch sampler to tatting-crochet. Some of the bookmarks were stitched with sayings such as a quote from Logan Pearsall Smith that says "People say life is the thing, but I prefer reading.'"
Barry received the gift with a copy of children's classic Charlotte's Web in hand. "I hadn't decided what to read for World Read Aloud yet," he said. "But with the gift of embroidery, it seemed like the appropriate story."
The Embroiderers' Guild of America is an organization that fosters the highest standards of excellence in the practice of the art of embroidery through a practice of education and study. For more information about the Bristol TN/VA chapter, go to egatvr.com and click on "Chapters by State." For more information about the Bristol Public Library, visit www.bristol-library.org.
