What is BloomREADS?

We are Bloomington Book Festival’s community literacy project, and our mission is to be a part of the story of improving literacy in our community.

Our goals:

  • Nurture the skill and love of reading through innovative multi-modal early learning tools and programs not offered in schools.

  • Increase access to books by planting books throughout our community.

  • Empower families by offering literacy education through free toolkits.

We are small and just getting started, but we believe as an independent project (free of the constraints of state funding), we can make an important difference by offering unique literacy opportunities that complement the literacy work already being done by teachers, librarians and volunteers in our schools and libraries. We like to think of BloomREADS as a pragmagical micromovement with the motto: start small, go S.L.O.W, and do good.

You might be wondering what “pragmagical” means (and if you can trust a project that dares to invent new words.) You may be more familiar with the word pragmatic. The definition of pragmatic is: To see things as they really are and deal with them sensibly. Our definition of the word pragmagic: To see things as they really are and respond imaginatively. (Look for it in next year’s updated Webster’s dictionary!) We know teachers are increasingly constrained, and literacy learning in schools can be limited and faces barriers. We want to come alongside with creativity, connection, and a little bit of magic. We believe the best way to help is with a creative, community-based approach.

If you feel, like we do, that reading is magic and that we need more magic in the world, we invite you to join us on this new adventure by donating to help support our first project.

Pilot Program:

BloomREADS’ first initiative is to build an on-site book collection and literacy toolkit for families at Tandem Community Birth Center and Postpartum House.

Your donations will help cover the cost of purchase of books, as well as cost of printing toolkits.

Meet Our Team

Kelly Eads

Kelly Eads, MFA

Kelly Eads is an artist and art educator in Bloomington, IN. She has an MFA in painting from IU and has taught visual art at IU, Herron School of Art and Ivy Tech Community College. In 2015, Kelly stumbled unexpectedly upon a transformative education in early childhood literacy while working in the children's department at Monroe County Public Library. She has carried this experience forward into everything she does, especially in her subsequent role as the PK12 Experiences Manager at the Eskenazi Museum of Art and currently as part of the team at Morgenstern Books and BloomREADS. Kelly is inspired by the incredible imagination and resilience of the students she has worked with and believes picture books are pure magic and profoundly important, especially when they are beautiful and ridiculous.

Kim Ross

Kim Ross, MSW

Kim Ross has worked in higher education for over a decade, supporting student growth, learning, and resilience at Indiana University. With a background in social work, Kim focuses on undergraduate academic support initiatives with an emphasis on access, empowerment, and innovative practices. Additionally, Kim co-created and teaches Gaming for Resilience, an academic support course for undergraduate students centered on building resilience through play and self-reflection. She also supports psychology students in career readiness through career development courses. Kim’s work is guided by the belief that resilience is a dynamic, learnable set of skills that can be strengthened throughout life. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in developmental psychology, her research explores novel and gamified, resilience-centered education for emerging adults. Kim is also a co-owner of Morgenstern Books and is passionate about literacy as a gateway to imagination, self-efficacy, and wellbeing. She is thrilled to be a part of the BloomREADS project and is excited to help Bloomington families engage with creativity, connection, and the joy of reading.

Amy

Amy Waechter-Versaw, PhD

Dr. Amy Waechter-Versaw has been an educator for over 25 years. Her educational roles include classroom teacher, building administrator, coach and mentor, whole school improvement consultant, and university grants leadership in Chicago and Indianapolis. She currently serves as the P-12 Engagement Team Lead for the Office of School Partnerships, a system-wide office, which provides coordination, visibility, and support for P-12 initiatives across IU's campuses to leverage partnerships and strengthen P-12 education and opportunities for university partnerships and engagement. Additionally, Amy teaches literacy methods courses in the IUB preservice teacher education program. In her former role, Amy designed and led teacher professional learning; and developed sustained community-engaged school partnerships with the Collaborative for Equitable and Inclusive STEM Learning (CEISL) at Indiana University-Indianapolis. Amy received a B.S. from Indiana University, an M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Literacy Curriculum and Instruction from University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research and work interests are within-school trust, equitable and inclusive teaching and learning, teacher professional learning, capacity-building, and assets-based approaches to whole school improvement and organizational progress. Amy is an advocate for public schools, educational justice, community-centered approaches to P-12 partnerships and research, and rehumanizing educational environments.  Her work with BloomREADS excites her and reflects her philosophy that diverse community-situated literacy is a robust asset, enhancing community connectedness and providing opportunities to celebrate local literacy practices and exploration.