Baltimore Read Aloud launches book drive to help 200 families

Baltimore Read Aloud launches book drive to help 200 families

Baltimore Read Aloud’s Bookshop on Wheels goes to schools with the hopes of building home libraries for students that will support their academic success.Nicole Johnson works hard setting up the Bookshop on Wheels at Hebbville Elementary School. It’s a chance for students to get their hands on a variety of books with diverse characters, and Johnson knows just how important that is. “When I was a kid, I was an avid reader, and I went to the library a lot. But it wasn’t until I got to college that I saw myself in a book. And, I believe that young people growing up today deserve that opportunity early and often,” said Johnson, the owner and CEO of Baltimore Read Aloud. Johnson is working to make that happen through book fairs, author visits and through Baltimore Read Aloud’s 100 Book Home Library Campaign. It’s a book drive to get the community to buy 20,000 books from Baltimore Read Aloud’s curated list of diverse books to help build home libraries for 200 families with 100 books each. “Research tells us that having at least 80 books at home or more improves academic achievement,” Johnson told 11 News. “We are rallying the entire community to support those families who really can’t afford to bring 100 books home or purchase 100 books.”Johnson hopes having 100 books at home will help children perform better in school. “(COVID-19) did a number on academic achievement in terms of reading and math, and so to address that, young people need as much exposure as possible to what’s happening in the classroom where teachers are trying to build their skills of reading, but also at home where families and parents have an opportunity to just support and create a culture of reading,” Johnson told 11 News.As children see themselves in the books they read, Johnson hopes it helps build their self-confidence. “When they are choosing diverse books, they also have an opportunity for their self-esteem to be affirmed,” Johnson told 11 News.”Representation of the characters in the books that represents the students’ demographics at the school will give them some sort of identity as they are reading, and they can have a love for literacy,” said Tyshawn McGee, community school facilitator at Hebbville Elementary School.The book drive lasts until Dec. 31. For more information, visit the following website.

Baltimore Read Aloud’s Bookshop on Wheels goes to schools with the hopes of building home libraries for students that will support their academic success.

Nicole Johnson works hard setting up the Bookshop on Wheels at Hebbville Elementary School. It’s a chance for students to get their hands on a variety of books with diverse characters, and Johnson knows just how important that is.

“When I was a kid, I was an avid reader, and I went to the library a lot. But it wasn’t until I got to college that I saw myself in a book. And, I believe that young people growing up today deserve that opportunity early and often,” said Johnson, the owner and CEO of Baltimore Read Aloud.

Johnson is working to make that happen through book fairs, author visits and through Baltimore Read Aloud’s 100 Book Home Library Campaign. It’s a book drive to get the community to buy 20,000 books from Baltimore Read Aloud’s curated list of diverse books to help build home libraries for 200 families with 100 books each.

“Research tells us that having at least 80 books at home or more improves academic achievement,” Johnson told 11 News. “We are rallying the entire community to support those families who really can’t afford to bring 100 books home or purchase 100 books.”

Johnson hopes having 100 books at home will help children perform better in school.

“(COVID-19) did a number on academic achievement in terms of reading and math, and so to address that, young people need as much exposure as possible to what’s happening in the classroom where teachers are trying to build their skills of reading, but also at home where families and parents have an opportunity to just support and create a culture of reading,” Johnson told 11 News.

As children see themselves in the books they read, Johnson hopes it helps build their self-confidence.

“When they are choosing diverse books, they also have an opportunity for their self-esteem to be affirmed,” Johnson told 11 News.

“Representation of the characters in the books that represents the students’ demographics at the school will give them some sort of identity as they are reading, and they can have a love for literacy,” said Tyshawn McGee, community school facilitator at Hebbville Elementary School.

The book drive lasts until Dec. 31. For more information, visit the following website.

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