New Beginnings for Early Literacy Program provides canvas totes to each child born at Norton Community Hospital or Lonesome Pine Hospital in Wise County. These totes include two board books, information on the importance of reading to children, health and nutritional information, and an invitation to attain additional books by attending the New Beginnings Programs in each primary and elementary school. This program is sponsored by Wise County Title I and community supporters.
The Family Engagement Coordinator in each of the primary and elementary schools conducts New Beginnings sessions each semester for pre-school aged children. Parents are given information about the importance of reading to children at an early age, how to pick out books, how to read to a child, the developmental stages of children, and a variety of other topics. Each child also receives a new book for attending.