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The mission of First Library® through its BUMS & BOOKS program is to promote daily reading & monthly library visits for single first time mothers. We provide free books, diapers and supplies weekly/ monthly with enrollment. BUMS & BOOKS A First Library ® program OUR PROGRAM What We Do Free Children’s Books We mail age-appropriate books to families each month to build early literacy habits from birth. Essential Diapers Families receive diapers delivered directly to their homes—reducing stress and supporting healthy development. Literacy & Family Support We connect families to reading routines, library engagement, and educational encouragement. Who We Serve Who We Support: First-time expectant mothers Single-parent households Families with infants under three months old Families facing financial hardship How It Works: Apply online Healthcare professional submits referral Get approved Submit library visit documentation. Receive monthly mailings of books & diapers Start Now FIRST LIBRARY GOES VIRTUAL! Mother meetings and First Library's BUMS & BOOKS Shop are now online. Fill your child's life books from your local library and basics for their bum! Daily Reading, Weekly Diaper Delivery and Monthly Library Visits for New Single First Time Mothers In Need. 1/1 APPLY NOW MAKE YOUR HOME YOUR CHILD'S FIRST LIBRARY®. We just don't give, we engage. First Library® is an early childhood literacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes daily reading and monthly library patronage for expectant and new single first time mothers in need (newborn to age three months old children) by offering free diapers, books, and educational support until their child’s third birthday.* Mothers are asked to read to their child daily and are required to visit their local library monthly and perform various free reading related activities to participate in our three year program. The first three years of a child’s life offer parents an amazing opportunity to shape their child’s growth and form healthy habits. First Library's mission is to promote early childhood literacy for preschool children through daily reading, monthly library patronage and educational support plus we help children develop other healthy habits. Our vision, at First Library, is to not only give every newborn child a foundation for a lifetime love of reading and library patronage, but to actively engage their parents in the process. At First Library, we choose quality over quantity. Our board books and hardcover books are made to last First Library We don’t just give. We walk with families. Helping children grow with care, dignity, and books. At First Library, we believe the library is one of the last true equalizers — a place where everyone belongs, curiosity is free, and opportunity is shared. Through our Bums & Books program, we support families with es sentials and early literacy while honoring every parent’s strength and dignity. Our Mission First Library exists to support families with young children by combining early literacy, basic care, and human dignity. We believe: • Every child deserves access to books • Every family deserves support that feels respectful and private • And every community is stronger when opportunity is shared The library is our inspiration. It is open to everyone — regardless of income, background, or circumstance. In a world where so much divides us, the library remains an equalizer: a place where knowledge is free and belonging is universal. How We Help Through our Bums & Books program, we provide: • Diapers and hygiene essentials • Children’s books • Parenting and learning resources • Quiet, respectful support delivered discreetly to families’ homes We don’t require families to stand in lines or explain their hardship in public. Support should feel safe, personal, and dignified. Our Heart At First Library, we believe real support is more than a handout — it’s a relationship. We don’t just give. We walk with families. We listen. We encourage. We share tools, resources, and hope. We believe every parent wants the best for their child, and with the right support, every family can grow stronger. A Note From Our Founder “I started First Library's BUMS & BOOKS program because I saw how many loving parents were doing their very best — yet still felt invisible in systems that were supposed to help them. I wanted to build something different. A place where families could receive support without shame. Where dignity comes first. And where books and basic care go hand in hand. At First Library, we meet people with compassion and confidence in their ability to grow.” — Catherine Tinger Goldberg, Founder First Library Motto The library is for everyone. An equalizer in a divided world. Providing books, essentials, and dignity to families — one home, one child, one story at a time. OUR PROGRAM RESEARCH BACKED MISSION DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND PARENTS AS TEACHERS STUDY SHOWS THE NEED FOR REGULAR READING TIME VALIDATING FIRST LIBRARY’S MISSION PEW RESEARCH CENTER STUDY SHOWS THE NEED FOR REGULAR LIBRARY PATRONAGE VALIDATING FIRST LIBRARY’S MISSION NEW JAMA PEDIATRICS FINDINGS SHOW PAPER BOOKS BEAT TABLETS IN PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS TAKE ACTION FUNDRAISE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY’S PROGRAM. BECOME A CAT MEMBER - VOLUNTEER . TURN OFF TECH AND TURN ON READING & MORE! WORK TO BRING THE FIRST LIBRARY TO YOUR COMMUNITY! "I thought if reading could bring so much comfort and joy, to just one child, how much could it bring to multiple children? It was then that I decided to create First Library®." Catherine Tinger Goldberg Founder First Library was the first and one-time largest affiliate of the "Book Lady"' aka Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Free Book Gifting program in New Jersey for over ten years and served sixteen counties during its tenure as its affiliate. First Library previously offered this program as part of its overall program and is now independent of it. *Some exclusions apply. Not available in all areas. Please email info @firstlibrary.org to be placed on our waitlist of new coverage areas. PRESS Best Social Assistance Program - Chatham GuideStar Bronze Seal of Transparency Rotary Club Selects First Library for its “Beds for a Cause” Service Project 2019 My Life Publications - First Library in 7 of its 16 NJ Issues. First Library Founder Interview TOT4TOT Turn Off Tech 4 Two hOurs Today PROGRAM Mission V alidation Impact First Library® Book List First Library® Application Form First Library ® Registration Form First Library ® Shop © 2012 - 2026 First Librar y® By continuing on this website you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy . GIVE Become a Business Sponsor Create a Fundraising Page Give Financially Sponsor a Child Turn Off and Turn On Volunteer First Library® 4 Old Turnpike Road Morristown, NJ 07960 Suite 1 firstlibrary.org@gmail.com 973-610-8833 CONNECT Contact Us Join Our Mailing List Make a Referral to First Library® Board of Trustees Guest Book & Blog Become a Local Community Representative Local Community Representative Free Book Gifting Chapters First Library® is a 501(c)(3) charity. 46-2001321 All rights reserved. First Library is a registered trademark symbol of First Library, A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation

Privacy Policy Privacy Policy Privacy Notice This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for (firstlibrary.org). This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this website. It will notify you of the following: What personally identifiable information is collected from you through the website, how it is used and with whom it may be shared. What choices are available to you regarding the use of your data. The security procedures in place to protect the misuse of your information. How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information. Information Collection, Use, and Sharing We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone. We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. send you a shipping label, set up a clothing drive or to ship an order. Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about special events, new products or services, READyay or changes to this privacy policy. Your Access to and Control Over Information You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address firstlibrary@firstlibrary.org : See what data we have about you, if any. Change/correct any data we have about you. Have us delete any data we have about you. Express any concern you have about our use of your data. Security We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline. Wherever we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a lock icon in the address bar and looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the Web page. While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment. If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately via telephone at 973-610-2490 or via email at firstlibrary@firstlibrary.org .

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First - being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance. Li·brar·y - a collection of any materials for study and enjoyment. First Library® Definition First [furst] - adjective - being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance. Li·brar·y [lahy-brer-ee, -bruh-ree, -bree] noun, plural li·brar·ies - a collection of any materials for study and enjoyment. PROGRAM Mission V alidation Impact First Library® Book List First Library® Application Form First Library ® Registration Form First Library ® Shop © 2012 - 2022 First Librar y® By continuing on this website you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy . GIVE Become a Business Sponsor Create a Fundraising Page Give Financially Sponsor a Child Turn Off and Turn On Volunteer First Library® 4 Old Turnpike Road Morristown, NJ 07960 Suite 1 firstlibrary.org@gmail.com 973-610-8833 CONNECT Contact Us Join Our Mailing List Make a Referral to First Library® Board of Trustees Guest Book & Blog Become a Local Community Representative Local Community Representative Free Book Gifting Chapters First Library® is a 501(c)(3) charity. 46-2001321 All rights reserved. First Library is a registered trademark symbol of First Library, A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation

First Library Parent Pledge First Library’s vision is to give every first born child a foundation for a love of reading and library patronage by actively involving their mothers in the process. Mothers are asked to read to their child daily and are required to visit their local library monthly. A yearly parent pledge is required for participation in the First Library program. Mothers are also asked to complete quarterly reading surveys and biannual questionnaires. New Mothers First Born Child Reading Aloud Daily New Educational Toys Library Visits Library Activities Parents who read to their child while asking minimal questions during reading, and pausing infrequently, had children who did not talk very much. On the other hand, parents who paused frequently during the story had children who asked more questions, talked more, and engaged in conversation. Home-School Study, DeTemple (2001) http://thenounproject.com The Noun Project Icon Template Reminders Strokes Try to keep strokes at 4px Minimum stroke weight is 2px For thicker strokes use even numbers: 6px, 8px etc. Remember to expand strokes before saving as an SVG Size Cannot be wider or taller than 100px (artboard size) Scale your icon to fill as much of the artboard as possible Ungroup If your design has more than one shape, make sure to ungroup Save as Save as .SVG and make sure “Use Artboards” is checked 100px .SVG First Library Pledge Year One Thank you for registering for the First Library program. Please fill out and submit First Library's Parent Pledge for admission into our program. Thank you. PARENT PLEDGE - FIRST YEAR Reading aloud is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading. Reach Out and Read, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, 2008. First Library Pledge Year Two Thank you for your child's participation in the First Library program. Please fill out and submit First Library's Parent Pledge for continued participation in our program. Thank you. PARENT PLEDGE - SECOND YEAR “ Wonderfully helpful and generous people and a great aim to make a practical difference. Sam K. ” By the age of 2, children who are read to regularly display greater language comprehension, larger vocabularies, and higher cognitive skills than their peers. Raikes, H., Pan, B.A., Luze, G.J., Tamis-LeMonda, C.S.,Brooks-Gunn, J., Constantine, J., Tarullo, L.B., Raikes, H.A., Rodriguez, E. (2006).h Out and Read, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, 2008. First Library Pledge Year Three Thank you for your child's participation in the First Library program. Please fill out and submit First Library's Parent Pledge for continued participation in our program. Thank you. PARENT PLEDGE - THIRD YEAR http://thenounproject.com The Noun Project Icon Template Reminders Strokes Try to keep strokes at 4px Minimum stroke weight is 2px For thicker strokes use even numbers: 6px, 8px etc. Remember to expand strokes before saving as an SVG Size Cannot be wider or taller than 100px (artboard size) Scale your icon to fill as much of the artboard as possible Ungroup If your design has more than one shape, make sure to ungroup Save as Save as .SVG and make sure “Use Artboards” is checked 100px .SVG

First Library Fundraising Materials

Good Books for a Good Night’s Sleep First Name and Last Initial * Leave a Note, if you'd like. We'll include it with your gift! SUBMIT ORDER TWO COPIES OF YOUR CHILD'S FAVORITE BOOK AND SEND THE SECOND COPY FOR A CHILD IN NEED. 61% of children from low income neighborhoods have no age appropriate books in their homes. HELP BRING BOOKS PLUS A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP INTO THEIR LIFE! All donations are 100% tax deductible. Fill in your first name & last initial and it will be included with the gift. GIVE THE LOVE OF READING TO CHILDREN IN YOUR COMMUNITY Give your child’s favorite bedtime book to a child in need today!

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Click Here to Add a Title First Library reserves the right to offer all clothing donations to its First Library Plus first time mothers in need program participants free of charge.

Contact Us Questions? Comments! We love hearing from you. Name* Email Address* Message* How did you hear about us?* Select an option Internet Search Friend/Relative ReadYay! Wee Give Box First Library website Imagination Library Blogger American Lifestyle Magazine NJ Family Magazine Kids Guide News Story Patch Local Online News Site Other SUBMIT

Research - New Jersey 2019 Children under age 6 whose family members read to them less than 4 days per week 45% Fourth grade reading achievement levels Proficiency in reading by the end of third grade is a crucial marker in a child's educational development. In the early years, learning to read is a critical component of education. But beginning in fourth grade, children use reading to learn other subjects, and therefore, mastery of reading becomes a critical component in their ability to keep up academically. Children who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to drop out of high school, reducing their earnings potential and changes for success. Below basic - 22% At or above basic - 78% Below proficient - 51% At or above proficient - 49% Eighth grade reading achievement levels Below basic - 18% At or above basic - 82% Below proficient - 53% At or above proficient - 47% Research - Reading Reading aloud is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading. Reach Out and Read, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, 2008. Of all parent-child activities, reading aloud provides the richest exposure to language, so promotion of reading aloud, especially for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, holds great promise for strengthening school readiness and laying a strong foundation for future educational success. Reach Out and Read, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, 2008. Reading aloud to young children is not only one of the best activities to stimulate language and cognitive skills; it also builds motivation, curiosity, and memory. Bardige, B. Talk to Me, Baby!(2009), Paul H Brookes Pub Co. Early literacy encompasses all of a child’s experiences with conversation, stories (oral and written), books, and print. Rebecca Parlakian, Before the ABCs: Promoting School Readiness in Infants and Toddlers. Washington, DC: Zero to Three, 2003. At its heart, literacy is about communication, which begins long before a baby utters her first word. Babies are prewired to learn, communicate, and connect with others; they tell us what they need through their cries, facial expressions, sounds, and movements. Janice Im, Carol Osborn, Sylvia Sánchez, et al., Cradling Literacy: Building Teachers’ Skills to Nurture Early Language and Literacy from Birth to Five. Washington, DC: Zero to Three, 2007. Across the nation just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members . Russ S, Perez V, Garro N, Klass P, Kuo AA, Gershun M, Halfon N, Zuckerman B. Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook (2007): Reach Out and Read National Center, Boston, MA . 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin to Read. Accessed April 16, 2014. Children growing up in homes with at least 20 books get 3 years more schooling than children from book less homes, independent of their parents’ education, occupation, and class. Evans, M. D., Kelley, J., Sikora, J., & Treiman, D. J. (2010). Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 28(2), 171-197. Creating a steady stream of new, age-appropriate books has been shown to nearly triple interest in reading within months. Harris, Louis. An Assessment of the Impact of First Book’s Northeast Program. January 2003. Experts are nearly unanimous in stating that babies should routinely experience shared books as soon as they experience shared talking, that is, during the first weeks and months of life. Butler, D. (1998). Babies need books. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. The nurturing and one-on-one attention from parents during reading aloud encourages children to form a positive association with books and reading later in life. Reach Out and Read, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, 2008. Giving children access to print materials is associated with positive behavioral, educational, and psychological outcomes. Reading Is Fundamental, Access to Print Materials Improves Children’s Reading: A Meta-Analysis of 108 Most Relevant Studies Shows Positive Impacts, 2010) Across the nation just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members. Russ S, Perez V, Garro N, Klass P, Kuo AA, Gershun M, Halfon N, Zuckerman B. Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook (2007): Reach Out and Read National Center, Boston, MA. Children who live in print-rich environments and who are read to during the first years of life are much more likely to learn to read on schedule. Reach Out and Read, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, Archives for Disease Control, 2008. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that in the spring of 2000, the children who were read to at least three times a week by a family member were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who were read to less than 3 times a week. Denton, Kristen and Gerry West, Children’s Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade (PDF file), U.S. Department of Education, NCES, Washington, D,2002. By the age of 2, children who are read to regularly display greater language comprehension, larger vocabularies, and higher cognitive skills than their peers. Raikes, H., Pan, B.A., Luze, G.J., Tamis-LeMonda, C.S.,Brooks-Gunn, J., Constantine, J., Tarullo, L.B., Raikes, H.A., Rodriguez, E. (2006). 37% of children arrive at kindergarten without the skills necessary for lifetime learning. Landry, S. H. (2005). Effective Early Childhood Programs: Turning Knowledge Into Action. Houston, TX: University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston. There is almost a 90% probability that a child will remain a poor reader at the end of the fourth grade if the child is a poor reader at the end of first grade. Boyer, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Children and teenagers who read for pleasure on a daily or weekly basis score better on reading tests than infrequent readers. Frequent readers also score better on writing tests than non-readers or infrequent readers. Reach Out and Read, Reading Aloud to Children: The Evidence, Archives for Disease Control, 2008. Higher reading exposure was 95% positively correlated with a “hub” region supporting semantic language processing in the brain, controlling for household income. Hutton, J. S., Horowitz-Kraus, T., Mendelsohn, A. L., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2015). Home Reading Environment and Brain Activation in Preschool Children Listening to Stories. Pediatrics, 136(3), 466-478. Findings show higher-than-average scores among students who reported more types of reading material at home. Donahue, P. L., A. D. Finnegan, and N. L. Lutkus, The Nation’s Report Card: Fourth-Grade Reading 2001 (PDF file), U.S. Department of Education, NCES, Washington, DC 2001. 80% of students, when asked which book they had enjoyed most, said that they most enjoyed the one they had selected themselves. Gambrell, L.B. (1996). Creating classroom cultures that foster reading motivation. The Reading Teacher, 50. Students who choose what they read and have an informal environment in which to read tend to be more motivated, read more and show greater language and literacy development. Krashen, S. (1993). The Power of Reading. Englewood, Col.: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. Teachers like to provide choice in the classroom because they believe that it increases motivation, effort and learning. Flowerday, T. & Schraw, G. (2000). Teacher Beliefs About Instructional Choice: A phenomenological approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 141-153. 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin to Read. Accessed April 16, 2014. Research- Reading and Family Income The average child from a professional family hears 215,000 words per week; a child from a working class family hears 125,000 words per week; and a child from a family receiving welfare benefits hears 62,000 words per week. Hart, B. & Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing. On average, children in economically depressed communities have 0-2 age appropriate books in their homes. Jeff McQuillan. The Literacy Crisis. California State University, 1998. In middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children. Neuman, Susan B. and David K. Dickinson, ed. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2. New York, NY: 2006, p. 31. On average, children in economically depressed communities have 0-2 age appropriate books in their homes. Jeff McQuillan. The Literacy Crisis. California State University, 1998. The average child growing up in a middle class family has been exposed to 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading. Reach Out and Read, Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook, 2007. Two out of every five children among high-income families are not read to daily. Neuman, S., & Dickinson, D. (Eds.). (2006) Handbook of Early Literacy Research (Vol. 2). 61% of low-income families have no age-appropriate books in their homes. Reach Out and Read, Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook, 2007. The average child growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading. Reach Out and Read, Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook, 2007. Children in low-income families lack essential one-on-one reading time. The average child growing up in a middle class family has been exposed to 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading. The average child growing up in a low-income family, in contrast, has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading. McQuillan, J. (1998).The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions. Heinemann. The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Newman, Sanford, et all. “Americans Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime; Invest in Kids, 2000. Mother-child bookreading in low-income families: Correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life.” Child Development, 77(4). 80% of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children. Neuman, Susan B., et al. Access for All: Closing the Book Gap for Children in Early Education. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2001, p. 3. Children from low-income families are at greater risk for entering school unprepared. According to a national longitudinal analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), economically disadvantaged children may know only one or two letters of the alphabet when entering kindergarten, while children in the middle class will know all 26. Lee, V. E. & Burkam, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy Institute. Half of children from low-income communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers. Brizius, J. A., & Foster S. A. (1993). Generation to Generation: Realizing the Promise of Family Literacy. High/Scope Press. Children from lower-income homes have limited access to books. Because of this, preschoolers from low-income families have fewer home and preschool language and literacy opportunities than children from economically advantaged backgrounds – a major reason that they lag behind in reading achievement throughout the school years. Berk, L. E. (2009) Child Development (8th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc Half of these children from low-income communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers. Brizius, J. A., & Foster S. A. (1993). Generation to Generation: Realizing the Promise of Family Literacy. High/Scope Press. Researchers estimate that before ever entering kindergarten, cognitive scores for children of low-income families are likely to average 60 percent lower than those in the highest socioeconomic groups, something that remains true through high school. Lee, V. E. & Burkam, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy Institute. One in six children who are not reading proficiently in the third grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers. This rate is higher in children from low-income families and rural areas. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center. 68% of America’s fourth graders read at a below proficient level. 82% of those children are from low-income families. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Double Jeopardy: How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation, 2011. 78% of juvenile crime is committed by high school dropouts. “Literacy Research.” National Children’s Reading Foundation. An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. The Forum for Youth Investment with the Ready by 21™ Partners. Getting the Most Out of Your Dropout Prevention Summit: Planning Guide. May 2008. Forum for Youth Investment and America’s Promise Alliance. Each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000. Rouse, C.E. (2005). “Labor market consequences of an inadequate education.” Paper prepared the Social Costs of Inadequate Education symposium, Teachers College Columbia University. October 2005. Half of youths with a history of substance abuse have reading problems. National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. (1998). Children with reading disability. Washington, D.C.: Robert Bock. Among those who reach adulthood with the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% live in poverty. Among those who have strong literacy skills, only 4% live in poverty. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center. Research- Reading and Children in Need 61% of low-income families have no age-appropriate books in their homes. Reach Out and Read, Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook, 2007. On average, children in economically depressed communities have 0-2 age appropriate books in their homes. Jeff McQuillan. The Literacy Crisis. California State University, 1998. There is only one book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods. Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study, 1996. The average child growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading. Reach Out and Read, Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook, 2007. The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Newman, Sanford, et all. “Americans Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime; Invest in Kids, 2000. Mother-child bookreading in low-income families: Correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life.” Child Development, 77(4). Children from low-income families are at greater risk for entering school unprepared. According to a national longitudinal analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), economically disadvantaged children may know only one or two letters of the alphabet when entering kindergarten, while children in the middle class will know all 26. Lee, V. E. & Burkam, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy Institute. Half of children from low-income communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers. Brizius, J. A., & Foster S. A. (1993). Generation to Generation: Realizing the Promise of Family Literacy. High/Scope Press. 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin to Read. Accessed April 16, 2014. One in six children who are not reading proficiently in the third grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers. This rate is higher in children from low-income families and rural areas. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center. The sad truth is that the vast majority of children who start behind, stay behind, leading to an increase in our nation’s dropouts rate among low-income and minority students. America’s Early Childhood. Jumpstart, 2009. 68% of America’s fourth graders read at a below proficient level. 82% of those children are from low-income families. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Double Jeopardy: How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation, 2011. Each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000. Rouse, C.E. (2005). “Labor market consequences of an inadequate education.” Paper prepared the Social Costs of Inadequate Education symposium, Teachers College Columbia University. October 2005. Half of youths with a history of substance abuse have reading problems. National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. (1998). Children with reading disability. Washington, D.C.: Robert Bock. Among those who reach adulthood with the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% live in poverty. Among those who have strong literacy skills, only 4% live in poverty. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center.