Kids Need Books

According to a recent editorial in the Trenton Times, the typical suburban family has an average of 17 “age –appropriate” books per child while in urban areas there is one book per 300 children. Furthermore, according to Reading is Fundamental, two thirds of children living in poverty have no books at all. Couples that with the fact that during the summer months school libraries are closed, you can see the literacy crisis that occurs every year. Across the country, there are numerous organizations that have programs to get books into the hands of children but it is far from sufficient.

Literacy does not end on the last day of school and the ten to twelve week layoff can cause irreparable harm to children, especially those who do not have access to books during the summer.  Summer school programs can be effective, but they are costly and many school districts throughout the country have eliminated them due to budget constraints.

One program in Naples, Florida is" K is for Kids" whose goal is to get books into the hands of children who need them. A number of years ago, a student group from Ocean City, New Jersey, went to local hospitals and gave a “first book” to the parents of all newborns. We need more programs like these. I would encourage publishers of children’s books as well as distributers, to donate returned books or overruns to charitable groups and schools to be distributed to students.

c.2015 J. Margolis