By Denise Gary
Kids Need to Read is proud to announce two milestones reached over the past fiscal year, which will be ending March 31st. At that time, we will be experiencing another new milestone—our first full audit. But back to the achievements we have already attained. . . .
The organizational name “Kids Need to Read” and the Kids Need to Read “Inspiring Imagination” logo are now service marks registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The name Kids Need to Read was chosen by founder PJ Haarsma in 2007. The name was lengthened to The Kids Need to Read Foundation in January 2008 while KNTR was seeking tax exempt status, but reverted back to the shorter version in October 2009 once the organization was well-established.
The registered logo was created by KNTR Creative Director Robert Gary in July 2010, replacing the original shield. In our 2010 announcement, we described the new logo this way:
Using the colors of childhood, our new logo puts our name front and center, and makes it clear from the first glance that we are all about kids. A book opening up to our name symbolizes our mission to open up a world of endless possibilities to children through literacy. It also serves to remind that Kids Need to Read opens its arms to all children in the spirit of inclusiveness. Our tagline, “Inspiring Imagination,” anchors the image with the essence of our foundation.
Supporters can find registered logos and banners on our Promote Kids Need to Read web page.
Kids Need to Read has earned the GuideStar Exchange Seal, a leading symbol of transparency and accountability provided by GuideStar USA, Inc., a premier source of nonprofit information. The Seal demonstrates to supporters our deep commitment to nonprofit transparency and accountability. Anyone seeking approved information about our organization can find it on GuideStar’s Kids Need to Read report page.
These notable milestones are important indicators of our commitment and passionate dedication to the cause of raising literacy rates and providing books to children and adolescents. We sincerely thank everyone who has supported Kids Need to Read and watched us grow over the years. We cannot wait to see what the coming year will bring to our organization and those children desperately in need of the resources we provide.
I leave you with a portion of a recent donation request from a public middle school in Pennsylvania:
This year, I was hired as the school librarian with the task of re-opening the school library for the first time in about 10 years. [I] and the other teachers are dedicated to providing our at-risk students with the same opportunities, education, resources, rigor, and dedicated professionals as any affluent school. The process of improving the library space to make it welcoming and educational for students is underway. The program’s focus will be improving student achievement, literacy rates, and fostering lifelong learning. Nearly the entire existing collection of books needs to be recycled as they are extremely outdated (15+ years) and would provide misinformation. Additionally, the resources are unsuitable for student use because they are so dusty and dirty where allergies and asthma are a concern. The administration and faculty at Penn Treaty are supportive and enthusiastic about finally having a library in their school. I would like to provide as many high-quality resources to these students as possible to better their chances for success. . . . Not a day goes by without students stopping me in the hall to ask when the library will be up and running. It’s such a good feeling to know that they are excited about having access to information resources. We used our small budget to purchase books to get the library up and running but still fall far below the recommended guidelines. I am concerned that the small amount of books I have been able to purchase so far will disappoint the students or that there will not be enough for them to check out when they want. A book donation would help bring our library closer to the PA school library guidelines, making literacy an achievable goal for our students through access to high-quality information resources.
