John Updike Childhood Home director Maria Lester welcomed another group of schoolchildren to the house recently, which resulted in a YouTube video documenting the visit.

Education Series—John Updike Childhood Home offers a nice account of what goes on when young people visit the house to see how important Updike was as a writer and how influential Shillington and Reading were, how they helped to shape him as a person and helped to shape his fiction as well.

The John Updike Childhood Home features 10 rooms of exhibits plus an education room that is used for small groups. The museum is owned and operated by The John Updike Society, a 501 c 3 non-profit organization consisting of professors, teachers, Updike family and friends, proud Pennsylvanians, and the kind of just-plain-readers that Updike most appreciated. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in Updike. At present, the Society has 270+ members from 18 different countries and 37 states.

The house restoration and conversion to a museum was made possible by generous donations from the Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, the PECO Foundation, the John and Gaye Patton Charitable Foundation, American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, and numerous private donors. Many of the items on display were also donated. Donations are tax deductible. The museum also seeks volunteers for the docent program.

TLC Fore Reading PA is a community development organization that uses golf as a foundation and sponsors in-school and after-school programs, and education series. Odds are that the young golfers may have enjoyed seeing Updike’s golf scorecards, photos, golf balls, and links attire on display.

If your class would like to visit the house, contact Dr. Lester (mlester@albright.edu) for more information.