By Lori Cothrun
Photograph by Shelby McBride
School may be out for summer, but we never stop! While students and educators are on summer break all across the United States, Kids Need to Read has been working diligently to make sure that worthy causes are receiving book donations. Our program, From Our Shelves to Yours, works all year long to ensure that books are getting into the hands of children. Check out some of our summer shipments!
York County Libraries serves 4,700 children in Pennsylvania during their summertime program, 1000 Books before Kindergarten. Their goal is to provide resources to families within their struggling school district. With our donation of 2,227 books and periodicals, we hope to help them reach a generation of healthy readers!
This summer, children in Southern California were able to attend camp thanks to the Center for Restorative Justice Works. They provided a group of children with the opportunity to visit their undocumented mothers in federal prison to reconnect, bond and heal through art therapy and fun camp activities prior to their mother’s deportation. KNTR provided enough books so that each child had five new ones to share with their families.
Upon hearing they would soon receive books, Nellie Garone of Mannsville School Library in Oklahoma responded, “Oh my goodness, I am jumping up and down!” Almost the entire campus receives free lunches in this high poverty rural area where they have not had funds for new books in quite some time. Kids Need to Read is currently working on a shipment of brand new books for Pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade students to enjoy when they return to school in August!
Skyview High School was established in Buckeye, Arizona to meet the needs of their growing community. Curriculum Coach Mandy McClanahan explained, “Many of these students have bounced from school to school and subsequently are showing gaps in their learning. Most can honestly say they have never finish a whole novel until they took our classes. We strive to help students meet their goals not only to graduate from high school but to succeed in life.” Thanks to the generosity of author Frank Beddor, Skyview will now have enough copies of Hatter Madigan: Ghost in the H.A.T.B.O.X. for all students to read during the upcoming school year! Upon hearing the news, McClanahan exclaimed, “This is awesome! Thank you! How is this possible?” We could not agree more.
Secondary English Teacher Shelly Morrill wrote an impassioned plea for assistance on behalf of the students attending Sequoia Deaf School in Mesa, Arizona: “Since my students do not hear, they learn through repetition and memorization of words—not phonics … which makes it a slow process. Can you imagine MEMORIZING every word?” Students attend the school in order to receive direct instruction using American Sign Language. “About 84% of the students do not have language access at home using American Sign Language with their family. This causes them to be severely delayed in language development.” For this very reason, Kids Need to Read purchased a brand new set of Emerge high/low books to assist them with their literacy instruction.
Kids Need to Read receives book donation requests daily. We have beautiful new books for ages 0-18 in our warehouse just waiting for a new home, but we need more shipping funds! Please help us in our mission by making a tax-deductible donation here.
The journey of a lifetime starts with the turn of a page. —Rachel Anders
