COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — KOAA News5's annual "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign begins Monday, August 25, and will run through September 5.
Each year following the donation campaign, News5 partners with Title 1 schools to give books to underserved kindergarten through third-grade students living in poverty, and it is something we cannot do without the community's support.
Every $6 you donate will result in one free book for a student hoping to have a bright future. In the 2024 -2025 donation cycle, we managed to distribute 15,000 free books to children in our community.
The Title 1 schools partnering in this campaign, include:
- Queen Palmer Elementary
- West Elementary
- Bradford Elementary
- Carmel Community School
- Will Rogers Elementary
The overall goal is to help these children build home libraries made up of age-appropriate and culturally relevant books that feature those with the following:
- different abilities
- cultures
- beliefs
- races ethnicities
KOAA and the Scripps Howard Foundation recognize that an impoverished environment often leads to children receiving a lack of access to reading resources, a lower reading proficiency, and a struggle to adequately complete courses needed to transition into the world.
The "If You Give a Child a Book" literacy program focuses on under-served children between the grades of kindergarten to third grade as this age range is often overlooked by other efforts.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, children who do not read at grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school, and these numbers more than triple for children who experience poverty.
The best way to curb these numbers is to make reading fun for children. Per Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, a child's frequency of reading books for fun begins to drop from 55% at age eight to just 35% by the time a child reaches nine years old.
In partnering with Scholastic Book Programs, the If You Give A Child A Book campaign allows children to choose their own personal reading materials that they can take home to start their home libraries.
Since its inception, "If You Give a Child a Book" has distributed over one million books.
To help children in Southern Colorado gain access to books, donate here.
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