Where Play Meets Policy: IRW Visits the Statehouse!
April 23, 2026
IRW was honored to receive a mini-grant from the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children (MaineAEYC) to attend their event, “Where Play Meets Policy” at the Maine Statehouse in Augusta on Wednesday, April 22!
IRW’s Literacy Coordinator, Celine Martin, and Director of Communications, Kelsey Buckley, went to advocate for the importance of early childhood literacy and showcase the work happening in our Forever Books program. They used this opportunity to debut some of IRW’s new resources for families.
Featured Resources
–Reading Together: This booklet, available online or in print from IRW, is packed with tips & tricks for reading to young children at home.
–Storytime Guides: Similar in philosophy to our Explore More Book Guides (EMBGs), these guides are for pre-K children and designed with both educators and parents as an intended audience. The guide for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was a hit!
This was a wonderful networking opportunity for IRW. We also chatted with representatives from Maine Department of Education, MaineAEYC, Head Start, the Maine Parent Advocacy Network, YMCA , and other childcare centers. Our thanks to MaineAEYC for the invitation and to all the attendees who stopped to talk about building strong literacy skills in early childhood!
A Closer Look at Our Table
