On Wednesday May 11, Coos Bay Police Officers Theran Coleman and Amanda Collins participated in the Gift of Literacy at Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC). Since last fall, all first-graders in the Coos County and Reedsport elementary schools have been reading a collection of books carefully selected by local librarians. Nearly 400 of these first graders assembled in two groups at SWOCC for a special event that included a short skit, having two books read to them by "celebrity" readers, and then each young student received a gift bag with the book each selected to take home as their very own. Gift of Literacy is a cooperative project undertaken annually by our local Rotary Clubs with a grant for Rotary District 5110. This year also included generous sponsorship support from First Community Credit Union. The project would not be possible without the strong support from SWOCC, Southcoast ESD, local school principals and first-grade teachers.