Books for Literacy
November 17, 2007 by Lillie
Imagine not being able to read. Reading brings me so much pleasure, it’s hard to imagine life without books and reading.
Yet, according to the National Right to Read Foundation, quoted on Education Portal:
- 42 million American adults can’t read at all; 50 million read at only fourth or fifth grade levels.
- The number of functionally illiterate adults increases by approximately 2.25 million each year.
- 20 percent of all graduating high school seniors are functionally illiterate.
My good friend, Beverly Hart, who has been involved in literacy in San Antonio, Texas, for more than twenty years, is soliciting donations of books for students in literacy programs.
The organization that I am with teaches adults to read. We have 17 classes in a number of churches all over town. Each class averages 22 people. The teachers (all volunteers) have decided to challenge our new readers to read books!
The challenge is for students to read one book each month. They must not only read the book, but also write a report on it! This is a tremendous step for so many. We want our learners to not only be able to read but also have the comprehension skills they need to advance in their jobs and their lives.
We are not asking the students to return the books. Many have never owned a book, and we would like for them to be able to keep them should they choose. I am sure that many will be returned for recycling to others; however, we still need lots of books!
I am writing today to ask for donations of books…any kind…for all ages…paperbacks, hard bound, whatever you have laying around that you have finished and would like to donate. This is going to be an ongoing book drive….so as you read and collect books you no longer want, please consider giving them to our learners. ALSO, please tell your family, friends and neighbors about this and maybe you can get books from them as well. It will be so much appreciated.
If you are anywhere near San Antonio and would like to donate some of the books overflowing your bookshelves, e-mail me so I can put you in contact with Beverly.
If it’s not feasible for you to donate to Beverly’s program, consider donating books to a literacy organization in your area.
Give the gift of reading by donating books for new readers.
[tags]literacy, books, reading[/tags]
Great project for Thanksgiving. I am very grateful for all in my life, giving back by simply donating books is the least I could do. Thanks Lillie.
If Beverly has not explored these options, it may be worth contacting San Antonio libraries (community, school, university, college etc.) who may be able to help.
She could also contact publishers who may be able to supply books for giveaways in conjunction with her appeal, or send her remaindered books or uncorrected proofs.
A longer term project is to have a huge!!! annual book fair. I go twice per year to the largest second hand book sale in the world which raises funds for counselling. But you could use the same concept to raise funds for new books.
This is a wondeful cause, and I wish Beverly all the best with it.
42 million Americans?! I can’t imagine how much more in underdeveloped countries.
[...] Bookshelves: Not the counting the nearly 100 books I’m donating to my friend Beverly’s literacy project, I have more than 500 print books on my bookshelves in my den and my office. These include writing [...]
Those numbers are really sad.. The nearest library will be a good start if you want to donate books.
Joseph,
The library is a good suggestion to donate books. Most libraries won’t necessarily put donated books on the shelves unless they are books the library already wants. However, most have bookstores where they sell used books to raise money to stock the library with books it does want.
[...] Donate used books to a local literacy organization. [...]
We have a large quantity of books. Follow the link to find out more about receiving books.
John,
Thanks for the info about Worldwide Book Drive. I had not heard of this organization before.
[...] Donate used books to a local literacy organization. [...]
I’m quite surprised about the numbers. I don’t think a lot of people are aware. We are all need to do our own little share to help.
Jane,
Most of us take our blessings for granted and don’t realize how rare and great they are.
Writing Nag,
Giving books so others may enjoy the blessings of reading is a great expression of thanks.
Thanks for the great suggestions, Yvonne. I’ll pass them on to Beverly. I know she has a lot of contacts from her years in literacy, and when I was president of a local writer’s group we had a booksigning to raise money for her organization. Publishers donated books that were signed by authors and sold with all the profits going to literacy. The books that didn’t sell went to the students. But I hadn’t thought about remaindered books or galleys.
djahna,
That’s why I’m enthusiastic about the One Laptop Per Child – it’s a great opportunity to provide education to children in underdeveloped countries.