Southwest Area

Coos, Curry and Douglas Counties

The SMART Reading Southwest Area manages SMART Reading programs at our local schools and raises funds to support SMART Reading in Coos, Curry, and Douglas counties. In the 2023-24 school year, we served 978 PreK through third-grade students and gave away 11,545 books. Each week, our dedicated volunteers enter the SMART Reading spaces ready to assist our local children with literacy support and helping enhance their reading confidence skills.

We are committed to recruiting more volunteers and establishing strong financial support within our communities ensuring we can continue to encourage and support our local children through SMART Reading programs.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Volunteers are a vital part of our mission. We can’t provide reading support and books to local kids without YOU! To find a list of SMART Reading sites near you, click here (or call 541-266-7476)

To learn more about our volunteer roles and submit an application, click here. 

Click here to read SMART Reading Southwest’s Year-end Report.
Click here to read SMART Southwest’s Local Newsletter.

Local Staff:

Headshot of Area Manager Della Harp

Della Harp
Area Director

Headshot of Program Manager Christine Jones

Christine Jones
Program Manager

Photo of Kris Dellsite

Kris Dellsite
Senior Program Manager

Business Partners:

SMART Reading Business Partners are local businesses that support SMART Reading through financial contributions and employee volunteerism. For a list of our Southwest Area Business Partners, click here ›.

Being an active member of our community is important to us. We are a proud member of the Bay Area and Brookings-Harbor Chambers of Commerce.

Leadership Council:

SMART Reading Leadership Councils are groups of individuals who help SMART Reading flourish in our local communities through fundraising and recruitment.  We value our SMART Reading Leadership Council members and thank them for the important work they do.

Southwest Area Leadership Council members:

  • Della Harp, Area Director
  • Emily Liga
  • Gwen Soderberg-Chase, Associate Professor, Education, Umpqua Community College
  • Harry Abel
  • JoAnne Nelson, Retired  Educator
  • Karen Bentley, Sales and Marketing, KVAL Television
  • Kent Rochester, Owner, Big Wrench Media
  • Lee Ann Grogan, Family Services Program Manager, UCAN Head Start
  • Sheri Witt
  • Tamara Osborne, Marketing Director, Umpqua Dairy
  • Tracy Pierce

Events

There are no events at this time.