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Beginning with Books is the premiere early literacy organization in Pittsburgh, PA, serving underserved and low-income children and families since 1984.
This summer, we would like to expand our summer reading program. A review of 13 empirical studies representing approximately 40,000 students found that, on average, the reading proficiency levels of students from lower income families declined over the summer months, while the reading proficiency levels of students from middle-income families improved modestly. Between grades 1 and 6, the potential cumulative impact of this achievement gap could compound to 1.5 years' worth of reading development lost in the summer months alone (Cooper, Nye, Charlton, Lindsay, & Greathouse, 1996).
Our Storymobiles, our libraries-on-wheels, bring stories and books to low-income children living in public housing communities. We would like to increase the number of children we see, the number of books they borrow and the number of visits we make from the last day of this school year in June until the very end of August. If we reach our fundraising goal, we will be able to offer an incentive system whereby each child who reads a minimum of 20 books will be given a new book to call their own, thus helping them build their own home library.
Won’t you help us close the summer reading gap? To level the playing field? To give these kids every chance at academic success? The future of our community depends on the education of our children, and their education depends on literacy...
Many thanks for your support...and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to help!
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