NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to
the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th
Edition, households with income less than $35K only have an average of 69 children's books
vs. 127 books for kids in households with income more than
$100K. To help close this equity gap
and create literacy-rich experiences for children, My Very Own
Library (MVOL), an international initiative that encourages
literacy by supplying students in need with books, in collaboration
with Scholastic Book Fairs, a division of Scholastic, the
global children's publishing, education, and media
company, are expanding efforts to support 50,000 students in
95 schools—an increased reach of more than 10,000 kids.
To learn more about the My Very Own Library program, visit:
www.myveryownlibrary.org.
The collaboration between MVOL and Scholastic harnesses the
power of choice, which the Kids & Family Reading Report
shows is a key motivator among kids—a majority of kids agree their
favorite books, and the ones they are more likely to finish, are
books that they have picked out themselves. Students participating
in the MVOL program are able to self-select 10 titles that interest
them from three Scholastic Book Fairs throughout the school year.
Additionally, MVOL will continue to keep kids and families excited
about reading by providing schools with support to host family
literacy events, and will coordinate school visits and book
signings this school year featuring award-winning children's
authors including Stephen Savage,
Natasha Tarpley, Angela Cervantes, and Daniel Jose Older.
Now through the end of the school year, the MVOL program will
support schools in Newark, NJ;
Delaware; Milwaukee, WI; Kansas City, MO; Chicago, IL; Richmond, CA; and the Dominican Republic:
- Newark, NJ: 22,000
students from 35 public schools will take home 220,000 children's
books (Partner Organization: United Way of Essex and West
Hudson)
- Delaware: 5,900
students from 14 public schools across the state will take home
59,000 children's books (Partner Organization: United Way of
Delaware)
- Milwaukee, WI: 5,900
students from 14 public schools will take home 59,000 children's
books (Partner Organization: United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County)
- Kansas City, MO: 3,585
students from nine public schools will take home 35,850 children's
books (Partner Organization: United Way of Greater Kansas City)
- Chicago, IL: 1,500
students from four charter schools and 8,000 students from 17
public schools will take home 95,000 children's books (Partner
Organizations: University of Chicago
and University of Chicago Charter
Schools)
- Richmond, CA: 875
students from one middle school and one high school at Making Waves
Academy will take home 8,750 children's books (Partner
Organization: Making Waves Foundation)
- Dominican Republic:
2,000 students from the Dominican
Republic attending four DREAM Project Schools will take home
20,000 children's books (Partner Organization: Dream
Project)
The MVOL program will also engage parents and teachers by
providing $1,000 in grant funding to
host three family literacy events, which promote the importance of
family engagement in growing a child's love for reading.
The MVOL program began in 2011 when founder Anne Feeley (1954–2012) started the initiative
in Newark, NJ, after a realization
that something more had to be done to generate excitement about
reading for underserved students in her hometown. Anne believed
"children who own books have better lives. The more books the
better. It's that simple." In these past eight years alone, My Very
Own Library has given away more than 2 million books to
students.
Quotes:
"My Very Own Library has inspired my child to read more, use
his imagination, and paint his world in vivid color," said a
parent from Newark Public Schools.
"It has always been the mission of Scholastic Book Fairs to
increase access to books and empower children to choose the books
that they want to read," said Alan
Boyko, President of Scholastic Book Fairs. "The books
that students receive through My Very Own Library will help
them develop both a love for reading and the confidence they'll
need to succeed in the classroom and later in life."
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SOURCE Scholastic