Early literacy is critical to health and wellness. Today we speak with Doro Bush Koch and Becky Dyer of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, a national organization founded by the former first lady of the United States that has been promoting reading for the past 25 years. We also discuss the impact of libraries on individual and community health with Dr. Sam Zager, and Steve Podgajny, Executive Director of the Portland Public Library.
Guests
Stephen Podgajny
Steve Podgajny has been the executive director of the Portland Public Library in Portland, Maine since 2006. Prior to that, he directed the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, ME for 18 years and the Dyer Library/York Institute Museum (now Saco Museum) in Saco, ME for 6 years. He was named Maine Librarian of the Year in 2000 in recognition of his distinguished record of professional service, both to libraries and the broader civic and cultural domains.
Dr. Sam Zager
Dr. Sam Zager is a Maine-trained family physician at Martin’s Point Healthcare in Portland and a volunteer with the Portland Public Health Department.After being part of a successful campaign to save public library branches in disadvantaged Boston neighborhoods, he collaborated with the Portland Public Library on the Health and Libraries of Public Use Retrospective Study (HeLPURS). The study had some fascinating findings about what may constitute a healthy community
Doro Bush Koch
Dorothy Bush Koch, known as Doro, is a Houston, Texas, native who currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland. She is the daughter of President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush and is married to Bobby Koch, president and CEO of Wine Institute. Koch also has an interest in education and serves on the board for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The foundation’s mission is to establish literacy as a value in every family in America by helping every family in the nation understand that the home is the child’s first school, that the parent is the child’s first teacher and that reading is the child’s first subject.
Becky Dyer
Becky Dyer has worked in adult education for over 35 years. While working in Maine Department of Education, she administered the Maine Family Literacy Initiative in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Today she works for the national nonprofit as the Director of Research and Program Development for the national nonprofit. Becky serves as trainer and speaker for educational organizations across the country. She and her husband, Don, live on Pequawket Lake in Limington, Maine.