This NYT article about a three-year study by the University of Tennessee has my mind spinning with the possibility of charities aimed at getting books into the hands of low-income kids over summer. The study showed that low-income children who were allowed to choose 12 free books (reading, not activity books) to take home over the summer avoided the typical summer decline in reading skills that happens to most low-income students. The books the students chose were generally not academic or classic -- more like biographies of Brittany Spears, or whatever appealed to them.It reminds me (and my husband -- he remembers it too!) of the RIF (Reading is Fundamental) program that used to come through our hometown schools. Each year (or maybe twice a year?), the school stage was filled with tables piled high with books. We kids got to come through and shop for a free book of our choosing, to keep. I remember trading my RIF book, after reading, with my best friend; it was like getting two free books.
RIF was a big deal because the town where I grew up only had one big, downtown library with no neighborhood branches (which is still the case). My parents worked during the day, and I never got to visit that library until I was old enough to drive there on my own to do research for a high school class. This was in the day before school book fairs and big chain bookstores, too.
So what we need now is RIF times 12, every year in late May, targeted to our low-income kids.
Photo: by me, copyright 2006
