Why it Matters
Individuals read to live life to its fullest, to earn a living, to understand what is going on in the world, and to benefit from the accumulated knowledge of civilization. even the benefits of democracy and the capacity to govern ourselves successfully depend on reading. Thomas Jefferson believed that informed citizens are the best safeguard against tyranny. He believed that every citizen must know how to read, that it is the public’s responsibility to support the teaching of reading, and that children should be taught to read during the earliest years of schooling. Aliterates, people who have the ability to read but choose not to, miss just as much as those who cannot read at all.
Our Story
Our children go to a wonderful middle school here in Montreal, Canada, with over 200 other students aged four to eleven. The teachers are warm and caring, and the stellar librarian goes above and beyond for the kids, despite the fact that the school board can only afford to have her at our school one day a week.
Our school is in a very mixed neighbourhood - linguistically, culturally, and socioeconomically. There are children in this neighbourhood who regularly go to school without breakfast, so it is no surprise that the first contact some of them have with books is only when they start formal schooling.
Our project, #giftofreading, is simply to share our love of reading with the next generation, and give them access to books, regardless of means or ability.
Our Team
Our Project
Our #giftofreading project aims to bring just that, the #giftofreading to the children of our community, through both our middle school, and our local community center that provides wonderful summer and after school programs.
- Phase 1
The first purpose to this crowdfunding is to make the library more accessible to the children. Adding dividers throughout the sections will help children find what they are looking for much easier. Rearranging some of the sections with the use of some furniture will make for a better flow of the books over all the categories. Adding eye-catching signage will help draw attention to all the wonderful topics we regularly promote with themed displays.
A lot of research was done looking for ways to get this done as inexpensively as possible. There are very few library supply stores worldwide, most just have different versions of the same products, if not the same products themselves. Ones that did have innovative products were so expensive in terms of full coverage for our library that it made purchasing from them unthinkable. We improvised until we were able to come up with material we could use to make some of the products themselves, the section dividers for 5 sections of our library. A book bin and display racks are also part of this project.
- Phase 2
The secondary purpose #giftofreading is to create a library of books with Scholastic's pre-selected levelled packages that can be donated to and used by the many children of all ages who pass through the community center year-round.
How You Can Help
- Share this with everyone you know.
- Donate to our #giftofreading campaign.
- Donate new or gently-used books to our cause. Contact [email protected] to get the details.
If you have ever read a book that you absolutely loved, then you know that the worth of a book far exceeds its price. If we do not meet our goal amount, then we do not receive ANY of the money, so
we are truly relying on your generosity of spirit to help us make this project a reality, and enrich the lives of some very deserving children.
Thank you very much for reading and sharing.
Give the #giftofreading this holiday season!