CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University’s Master of Public Health program is on a mission to boost childhood literacy through the Community LIFT (Literacy Initiative for Fostering Thinkers) Project, which will bring family reading training programs and Little Free Libraries to Head Start Centers across the county.
The university recently received more than $27,000 from the Nashville Predators Foundation and the CMC Community Health Foundation to support the program, and Austin Peay students will fully implement it in the Fall 2025 semester.
“We hope this creates a foundation for some amazing programming that can happen at the Head Start Centers moving forward,” said Dr. Kadi Bliss, APSU professor and MPH program director. “This is something that can have a major impact on child literacy, which will also improve adult literacy and public health outcomes.”
APSU graduate students have spent nearly a year working on the project through a series of service-learning courses in the MPH program. Bliss teaches an initial grant writing class, which is followed by program planning (Dr. Shannon Haselhuhn, senior instructor) and program evaluation (Dr. Tyler Nolting, assistant professor).
“I feel like I have grown as a public health professional by enhancing my communication, research, and grant-writing abilities,” said Gracelyn Eaves, a graduate student in the MPH program. “I was able to take the lessons I learned from working on the grant applications and curriculum and translate that into my personal research pursuits, where I received a Student Research Grant for a mental health project.”
Eaves and her classmates developed the concept for Community LIFT alongside MPH faculty and partners from the Eriksson College of Education.
Dr. Bobette Bouton, professor of education and chair of the Imagination Library of Montgomery County’s advisory board, helped solidify the project’s focus on early childhood literacy, while Dr. Bing Xiao, associate professor of education, served as an expert consultant.
“The students are learning a lot about teamwork and leadership and how to function as a unit,” Nolting said. “Even before my class starts we’ll be installing the Little Free Libraries this summer, and we’ll have a series of family reading trainings at each Head Start location that my students will coordinate and manage.”
APSU has already hosted a pilot session with the Head Start Program using the training materials students developed, and a kickoff event is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency.
“We’ve set an ultimate goal for at least 60% of the families who attend these trainings to read with their children for at least 20 minutes a day, four days a week,” Bliss said. “Those numbers are based on research and evidence about creating healthy reading habits, and we’re excited to help bring this to the community.”
Community LIFT also aims to distribute more than 500 books to Little Free Libraries at Montgomery County’s Head Start centers. APSU has partnered with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System to set up donation boxes at each elementary school’s library, and volunteers from Community Engagement and Sustainability will help maintain them long-term.
“Our families have already received some great resources and training for our literacy program, and we’re working to increase the number of books in the Little Free Libraries,” said Tara Davis, the Head Start program’s child service manager for education, transition, and disabilities. “Most of our families are low-income, and having access to those resources so they can read with their kids at night goes a long way toward improving literacy and kindergarten readiness.”
Nolting said he hopes the experience motivates APSU students to continue serving their communities after graduating, and that their efforts will help the Head Start centers and the Imagination Library sustain the program for years to come.
“As a child, education was what I looked forward to every day,” Eaves said. “I want children to experience the love I had for school, to look forward to learning and reading, and to know the importance of education – it’s the one thing no one can ever take away from you.”
