Books Equal Academic Success

Have you ever looked around your home to see how many books you have? Do you have more than you can handle? If so, it could be a good indication that your kids will be successful in school. According to a new study from the University of Nevada, researchers found that children who live in homes with a lot of books – either children’s books or adult books – continued their educations three years longer on average than kids whose families had little or no books as home!

But what about the kids who don’t have books in their home? Sadly, studies have shown that children who lack early exposure to books and reading struggle academically, may suffer from low self-esteem, and are at much higher risk of substance abuse, teen pregnancy and delinquency. The children most at risk come from low-income families where books are an unaffordable luxury. In fact, research shows that families who live at or below the federal poverty level cannot afford to buy books and seldom have books in the home! This breaks my heart. Every child should own at least a few books.

As someone who is passionate about reading, it occurred to me how simple it would be to help address this problem at least in my own community. What if we contacted local food pantries and asked them if they would be interested in book donations as well as food for their clients? Or what about contacting our local schools and asking if they know of children in need of books at home? I would happily donate new and gently-used books that could be given to these kids. Could single parent fairs or parenting groups offer books to parents? There are countless avenues for getting books into the hands of children.

Down the road, what if we were able to organize a non-profit in Ohio like the organization, Page Ahead, in Washington State? Since 1990, Page Ahead has placed nearly 1.7 million new books into the hands of 550,000 at-risk children through collaborations with schools, social service agencies, preschools, and early childhood centers across Washington State!

As it says on their web site, literacy can make the difference between the poverty of one generation and the promise of the next. Shouldn't we try to do something to bring this same hope here? Let me know your thoughts...