Reading is fun!
Miss Utah Navajo starts book drive

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — It takes more than words to get a book drive off the ground and Miss Utah Navajo hopes to get more underway.

Rozanna Benally spent the past several months collecting nearly 840 titles for a book distribution held in March in conjunction with Montezuma Creek Evenstart Program's Family Literacy Night.

Benally plans to distribute even more books to every student at Naats'isaan Community School's end of the year award's ceremony on May 16.

"Reading promotes the mind to excel," Benally stated on her promotional bookmarks.

The importance of reading, she said, is to develop language skills.

"(And) obtaining new knowledge and being able to explore new adventures in books," Benally said.

Her book drive, "Literacy is Empowering" is aimed at students in Utah-Navajo communities.

Navajo Nation First Lady Viki Shirley, Arizona State University, Southwest Board of Cooperative Services, and Vikki's Ink donated money to purchase books and book donations from the Utah State Office of Education, local community members and Benally's Welding Business contributed to what Benally said was a successful book drive.

Her motivation, she said, came from other book drives she participated in and the need she saw for books among local children.

She geared her drive towards students in pre-school through the eighth grade.

"I wanted books that were culturally sensitive and books they could relate to," Benally said.

As part of her literacy blitz, Benally also passed out bookmarks she created herself, which included tips such as "read every day" and "read at least 30 minutes daily".

Benally received her bachelor's degree at the Univeristy of New Mexico in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She currently works as a speech-language pathology assistant.

She plans to continue her book distribution among chapter houses later this year.

For more information, contact Rozanna Benally at miss(underscore)utah(underscore)navajo@yahoo.com