EQ in Action: Children's Book Bank
Academically, children growing up in homes without books are on average three years behind children in homes with lots of books. When books are readily available at home, children spend more time reading with their parents or on their own, and developing the literacy skills needed to succeed in school. The development of early literacy skills through experiences with books and stories is directly linked to a child's success in learning to read. This leads to improved education for all students, higher literacy and graduation rates, and stronger communities. The mission of The Children’s Book Bank is to fill children’s homes and lives with beautiful, engaging books to advance child literacy, encourage family bonding, and ignite curiosity through the power of books.
Through their Building Home Libraries program, CBB curates book bundles to furnish at-home libraries for children ages 0-5. These are books in good condition, that they can own and come back to over and over again, unlike many used books or library books. At young ages, children develop pre-reading skills like recognizing the look and sound of letters, reading top-to-bottom and left-to-right, and the way letters combine to make words, sentences and stories.
Additionally, books for school-aged children are collected, sorted by grade level and distributed to high-needs schools who then hold free books fairs, where the entire student population chooses a small collection of diverse, engaging books to help combat the ‘summer slide’. (Studies show that students who do not read over the summer will lose more than two months of reading achievement each year. This loss can accumulate to a 2 year achievement gap by the 6th grade.)
In 2015 Children’s Book Bank launched their A Story Like Mine initiative, which prioritizes including books with diverse representation in their book bundles. When children see their life, community, and culture reflected in books, they see their unlimited possibilities. When children are exposed to people and cultures different than their own, they start to learn empathy, and their minds expand with possibilities.
We are excited to be participating in the November 2021 ‘Book Harvest’ for Children’s Book Bank! This month we will ‘harvest’ donations of new or gently used children’s books from our patients for CBB. Bring your donations to your next appointment! To donate directly or for more information, click here.
Feel free to check CBB’s wish lists for ideas!