As a Teach for America high school math teacher in rural North Carolina from 1991 to 1993, Danielle Swope, the founder of The Children’s Book Bank, experienced firsthand how students from poor families struggled to succeed in school. Interestingly, the most significant obstacle she faced teaching math was that her students' reading skills were so limited. The high school in which she taught was neither underequipped, nor understaffed, nor underfunded, as she expected when she arrived. Rather, upon reflection, it became clear that the lack of resources at home was a contributing factor, and that the students she taught had, years before, arrived in kindergarten lacking the foundational literacy skills on which their future educations would be built.
For children in poverty, one of the biggest obstacles to literacy development (which begins at birth) is the scarcity of books in the home. While the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is approximately 13 books to 1 child, the ratio in low-income neighborhoods is 1 book to 300 children. The Children’s Book Bank seeks to get more books into the hands and homes of young children who might not otherwise have books of their own.
Sign up below to come lend a hand as we spruce-up, sort and bundle donated books which will later be distributed to low-income preschool children in the Portland area!
* The Children’s Book Bank is also looking for individuals, schools, clubs, congregations, and businesses interested in hosting book drives to collect the books their children have outgrown and are no longer reading. If you’re interested, please contact Danielle at: danis@childrensbookbank.org
This is a great project for volunteers ages 4 and up.