Our History
2004
Born from a love of books. The idea for Island Readers & Writers was sparked when our founder, Jan Coates, owned Port in a Storm bookstore in Somesville, ME. She saw the profound connections that authors and illustrators made with children when they visited the bookstore. Children were inspired, and excited to read and create. An idea occurred to her—what if authors and illustrators could visit children who had limited access to books and programming in the remote places where they lived?
Friends over Books was piloted with just one child living on Frenchboro island. From 2007–2013 this program would grow, including a summer program on Swans Island, with the help of many volunteers.
2007
Island Readers & Writers (IRW) is officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
2009
To celebrate the launch of our friend Chris Van Dusen’s classic Maine picture book The Circus Ship, IRW toured 10 islands in two weeks, collecting historical anecdotes and personal histories related to the true story on which the book is based. Read more about this iconic program in the coverage from Publisher’s Weekly.
2010
IRW launched its first National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read on Mt. Desert Island with the Call of the Wild.
2012
IRW begins its expansion into Washington County by onboarding five new partner schools.
Awarded our second NEA Big Read grant, IRW holds programs for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer on Mt. Desert Island.
2015
With a desire to build stronger programs for early childhood education, IRW hosted focus groups with thought partners to hear Suzanne Bouffard speak on her book The Most Important Year.
2020
Our organization was honored by The Library of Congress Literacy Awards for best practices in literacy and reading promotion.
2023
Recognizing a growing need to support educators in public schools, IRW debuts the Dear Teacher conference—a two-day hands-on professional development experience for rural educators working with grades pre-K–8.
