While summer break can be an exciting time for children, for many, it also means that all reading and learning will be put on hold until classes resume in September. Out of the classroom and their racks of books, students' likelihood to read may take a nosedive during these vacation months.
Community organization Books on Bikes is the brainchild of Charlottesville City School librarians and teachers who saw a need for access to reading materials in underprivileged areas of Charlottesville, VA. Their answer? Deliver the books themselves to ensure that all children have stimulating reading materials to keep their minds busy over the summer break.
"During the summer, students don’t have access to their school’s library books," they write on their Kickstarter page. "This project fills this need by getting literature into the hands of our students, students who may not have books of their own at home, and keeps them interested in reading over the summer."
And the fight against child illiteracy is more important now more than ever. According to statistics provided DoSomething.org, a nonprofit geared at enacting social change for marginalized youth, nearly 1 in 4 American children grow up without learning how to read. They also add that "2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare."
Partnering with Jefferson Madison Regional Library and the JMRL Friends of the Library, volunteers with Books on Bikes hand deliver books throughout the community all summer long. And for those outside the Charlottesville area, they've set up an Amazon donation wishlist with popular titles they hope to distribute.
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