Christmastime means books. There is down time for reading, and on Christmas morning always a new book or two under the tree. Alecia has vivid memories of her Dad diving into a huge hardback biography or history book, completely oblivious to the commotion of family and unwrapped presents around him.
The school African Girls Can students attend, St. Katherine in Lira, Uganda, does have a well-equipped library. But, there is something special about having books to call your own. This Christmas, we gave each girl two biographies from the “Who Was” series.
We hope these small volumes will open their eyes and broaden their experience. We wanted them to know about famous African Americans such as Rosa Parks, and incredible man-made marvels such as the Great Pyramids. We also hope they will share these books with each other, as well as read them aloud to their younger siblings.
We respect organizations that focus on literacy and build libraries around the world. Libraries are community centers and a lot of productive things happen there in addition to reading.
800 million people in the world are illiterate and 2/3 of them are women and girls. Collaborating with local governments and schools in Africa and Asia, Room to Read has been focusing on growing early readers to lifelong learners for 18 years. It also has a huge initiative for secondary education for girls, which is on track to impact 66,000 students by 2020. The founder, John Wood, wrote a book called “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.”
Check out Room to Read’s 10 Steps to Keeping Girls in School!
We’re sure you’ve seen these adorable “take one, leave one” libraries in people’s front yards. But, did you know that in only 8 years, there are now 50,000 of them worldwide? When you install a “Little Free Library” you can register it on the organization’s world map for just $45. We’re not seeing any located in East Africa (yet!)
Perhaps you’ve seen their green collection bins. The social enterprise Better World Books began with the observation that many unused textbooks were growing dusty on shelves as students at US universities purchased the latest editions. Collecting from 1,800 college campuses and 3,100 libraries and thrift stores, it has connected with hundreds of non-profit organizations to donate over 17 million books since 2003. This includes Books for Africa, which has facilitated the donation of 36 million books to schools and libraries in 49 African countries since 1988.
After the catastrophic fires in Gatlinburg, TN, we learned more about Dolly Parton’s philanthropy. Her organization started in 1995 and mails a free book monthly to each of over 1 million registered kids, and is proven to improve early childhood literacy. It started close to her home in East Tennessee and has expanded to cover all of North America, Australia and the UK.
This non-profit organization was started in 1989 and incorporates books into pediatric care. Medical providers encourage families to read aloud together so that kids can gain the foundational language skills that will prepare them to be successful in school. There are now 5,500 program sites, distributing 6.5 million books per year. Their vision is that Reach out and Read will become a part of every young child’s check-up. (In memory of Dr. Neil Russakoff)
