Now, the talk has died down and the pace has slowed. The tallyboard outside
the Tifton-Tift County Public Library still records how many points have
been totaled and children are still reading books and taking tests. There is
far less attention, but the work goes on.

     "I want us to get past stage one and become the Cooperstown of reading,"
said Mike Brumby, the director of the Tift County Foundation for Educational
Excellence. "We still have a lot of big plans. The attention has died down.
But the books are still being read."

     Since the RCW program was featured in Time Magazine and on NBC and CBS,
Brumby and his wife, Moppy, have been contacted by interested teachers and
volunteers in every state. He said they mostly ask how Tifton got such a
great response from the community in backing the project. Brumby's answer
oftentimes is that he did not do a thing.

     "The park benches around town, we didn't ask for those," Brumby said. "When
businesses put their signs up around town, it's because they want to be a
part of it. I'm thrilled about that. The businesses here have been great in
supporting us."

     The program was also recognized by Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, an
ABAC alum and native of Bainbridge who spoke recently at the foundation's
annual awards dinner.

     Cox grew up living upstairs in the funeral home that her father owned. She
had no back yard to play in, but the public library was one block away. It
was there she developed her passion for books.

     "Isn't it great to hear stories about parents pleading with their children
to 'put that book down' and 'there's more to life than reading.' There are
hundreds of thousands of parents in Georgia that are envious of you – they
would love to have that problem," Cox said.

     "And just look at some of the results. Circulation at the public library
doubled. Kids and parents competing to achieve the highest reading points.
Reading scores in some schools jumping an amazing 15 percent."

     Cox also emphasized the long-term effects of the program and the
possibilities it creates for Tifton's young people.

     "It is very clear this enormous project did so much more than raise reading
scores and achieve a world record," Cox said.

     "It also instilled in Tifton citizens of all ages an appreciation and love
of literature that will exist long after people forget whether Time magazine
wrote an article...by placing such an emphasis on reading, you have opened
the doors of the world to Tifton's children. You are preparing them to be
the well-rounded adults that are ready to face the world and solve its
problems."

     Sandy Bowen, the president of the foundation who was also one of the leaders
of the RCW project, said she has heard from numerous teachers in the Tift
County system and they are excited about how the program can help them.
"They've embraced it," Bowen said. "The AR program doesn't teach any child
how to read. But it can help them get excited about it. Our teachers here do
such a great job and we have an unbelievable reading program because of
them. This program really promotes a free exchange of ideas."

     Although the RCW program received national attention after Steve Lopez's
column in Time magazine, Brumby credits some influences closer to home in
really getting it going.

     "Ed Lightsey from Georgia Trend magazine really picked up on it and loved
it," Brumby said. "James Chavez from the chamber told him about it and he
thought it was the greatest thing since grits. He passed it on and I think
that's how Time picked up on it."

     "Also, Joe Courson has a lot of contacts and helped it get noticed by the
networks. And the mayor (Paul Johnson) was a constant support of it," Brumby
said. "The people here helped get it off the ground."

     There is now a Reading Capital of the World website started by Plant
Telecommunications and Billy Greer, a Tifton native who is now the president
of Virginia Commonwealth University, has offered a scholarship to a graduate
every year who hails from the Reading Capital of the World. Author Ruth
Williams, who wrote "Younger Than That Now," has visited Tifton as a tie-in
to the campaign.

     In fact, the program's popularity has reached even mythical proportions.
"A couple of kids from Tifton were visiting Santa Claus at the Phipps Plaza
in Atlanta," said Moppy Brumby. "When Santa asked, they told him they were
from Tifton and he said, "Oh, you're from the Reading Capital of the World."
Brumby said the foundation is continuing to seek ways to expand the Reading
Capital of the World idea, one that was born when Teri Nalls of Charles
Spencer Elementary wrote a grant seeking $3,500 for an AR program. The road
to two million points has started well.

     "There's so much we can do and the whole thing that it's about is reading,"
Brumby said. "It's something that will help Tifton in a lot of ways. We've
got a lot left to do and that's exciting."

     To contact managing editor Chris Beckham, call 382-4321, ext. 203.