Community Involvement

Literacy in a community is important. Children in low income familes seldom have access to books or have books in the home. Chiildren who have books at home or have access to them are more likely to do well in school, and develop adequate reading skills. This leads to a lower drop-out rate and greater success for these children in later life.
Reading is vital to success in school. Learning the language and learning to spell and define words comes from reading. The more the access to books, the greater the exposure to words and sentences will be. Books in the home helps to facilitate this.
Some communities conduct book drives with the goal of placing books in the hands of those who otherwise would not have them.
One such drive is “Worcester: The City that Reads” in Worcester, MA. This drive aims to put books in the homes of those who otherwise would not have them. They hope to promote life-long reading habits. They want to collect as many new or gently used books as possible to reach their goal. Drop-off sites are listed on http://www.worcpublib.org and http://www.worcesterschools.org.
Keep watch for such a drive in your community, or even start one yourself.