Over the past two decades, Reading Corps and Early Learning Corps have helped hundreds of thousands of students develop their reading abilities through high-impact tutoring. The skills students learn through our programs help them just as much outside the classroom inside it, and to celebrate our big anniversary, we wanted to give students something else they could take home with them: books! As part of National Book Month, we wanted to take a moment to share the results of the big book distribution we did as part of our 20th anniversary celebration!
From The Snowy Day and The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Nate the Great and Lola Levine, students in our programs were able to get grade-level books that they could keep forever! Over the course of the 2023-24 school year, we distributed thousands of free books in California, Georgia, and New York, and tens of thousands in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Florida. In total, we got over 146,000 books into the hands of students across the country!
A Team Effort
Our incredible tutors helped to make the event happen. Some incorporated the books into tutoring sessions and surprised students by letting them keep the books at the end of lessons. Others used them as rewards for a job well done, and others used their knowledge of with students to make sure everyone walked away with a book they would love. One tutor in Minnesota even started a YouTube channel called Ms Shayla Reads with video read-alongs of books from the program!
“Every Friday, the students and I have a ‘Fun Friday’ where we select one of the many books that were gifted to us and read it together,” says Jocelyn, a Reading Tutor in Livingston, California. “Some of the students who claimed to dislike reading at the beginning of the school year have now started to enjoy reading in and out of the classroom!”
Starting a Personal Library
As part of the program, students received bookplates, which they could customize with their names and place inside their new books. They were also sent home with postcards explaining to caregivers where these new books came from and stressing the importance of reading for young learners!
Thank you to all of our tutors and partners for making the 20th Anniversary Book Distribution such a smashing success. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next 20 years! Interested in helping students in your community learn and achieve more? Visit readingandmath.org/get-involved/become-a-tutor to learn more!