Setting Goals: Book Drives

• Eighty percent of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children.
• A recent study shows that while in middle income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.
• The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student.

What will you do to help increase reading and literacy?