In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. asked, "How shall we turn the ghettos into a vast school?"

A lifelong Athens resident who grew up in one of this city's low-income neighborhoods has actively responded to King's profound question. Rodney Ware, a 1999 UGA graduate and now library assistant at the UGA Main Library, has developed a cultural arts program to advocate literacy as a means of educating, enriching and empowering the youth of Athens' poor communities. Through hisr.a.p.jpg
"First we need a library," Ware says. "We need to form strong libraries." Beginning with the Rocksprings community, Ware proposes a network of library resource rooms at public housing sites near and far. A self-identified "street librarian," Ware intends to promote recreational reading by distributing multicultural books to minority children, who make up the majority of public housing residents.

Ware emphasizes the link between literacy and school dropout rates and hopes that his program might ultimately play a role in improving Clarke County's attrition rate. One of his primary goals is to encourage families to read together. He believes home libraries are significant to his mission because, quite simply, "Children who have more books at home read more."

To assist R.A.P. in getting more books to Athens' low-income kids, Borders Books & Music is hosting a book drive through April 15. Books purchased for donation to R.A.P. receive a 20 percent discount. The Borders display primarily features books with an African-American focus in order to appeal to and benefit Ware's target population.

"It's so important for everybody to have access to books, especially in the age of computers," says Borders General Manager Helene Whitley, "and it's nice to be able to provide the hands-on books that people can enjoy and relate to."

Jackson Street Books downtown has also donated several books to the Read-Aloud Program.

Books collected during the drive will be given out to children May 5 at the Rocksprings Community Center as part of the annual Opportunities Fair. Kids can look forward to meeting R.A.P.'s mascot, Eshu the book clown. Named for the divine messenger in West African folklore, Eshu enjoys having children read to him.

Socially conscious rap and hip hop artists are also expected be on hand to interact with kids, discuss their art, and perform.

"Rap is a form of literacy," explains Ware. "It's poetry, and you can use this poetic form to teach kids. Rap is a powerful manifestation of the African oral tradition. Kids need to know the cultural and historical origins of rap and hip hop, because it's their heritage."

Ware intends to have an annual book fair and eventually create a resource library for the Rocksprings Community Center. He believes that public housing residents, because they often feel culturally isolated from the mainstream, will more readily avail themselves of library services if these are located on-site.

Ware is researching potential funding sources, and hopes to be able to partner with the Athens Housing Authority, the Athens–Clarke County Library, the Clarke County School District and the University of Georgia to further his program.

In Martin Luther King, Jr.'s celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, he promised that with faith, "we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope."

Rodney Ware has the faith.

In addition to Coretta Scott King Award books, suggested R.A.P titles include: Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa, by Gerald McDermott Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, by Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry, by Ashley Bryan Jamaica and Brianna, by Juanita Havill Jamal's Busy Day, by Wade Hudson Contact information: Read-Aloud Program Rodney Ware (706) 613-2328 rodney@arches.uga.edu