Participating Communtites Participating Communities in New Jersey Most First Library is proud to offer their Most First Library books plus new educational toys and clothing program in the following communities. Newborn children of low-income, first time parents must also participate in the First Library or another approved free book program for participation in the Most First Library program. EFFECTIVE 03/01/2020 NO NEW MOST FIRST LIBRARY REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Most First Library Registration New Jersey by Zip Codes 07008, 07039, 07064, 07077, 07081, 07920, 07927, 07928, 07035, 07960, 07976, 07981 08535,08837, 08902

The mission at First Library® / BUMS & BOOKS is to promote daily reading & monthly library visits for single first time mothers in need. We provide free diapers and supplies weekly with enrollment. 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 mothers Single-parent households Families with infants and toddlers Families facing financial hardship How It Works: Apply online Get approved Submit library visit documentation. Receive monthly mailings of books & diapers Start Now FIRST LIBRARY GOES VIRTUAL! Mother meetings and The First Library / 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 yor childAKE YOUR HOME YOUR CHILD'S FIRST LIBRARY®. We just don't give, we engage. First Library® / Bums and Books 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 (open to newborn to age one 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 / Bums and Books 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 / Bums and Books, 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. Perfect — here is everything fully integrated for FirstLibrary / Bums & Books with the library-as-an-equalizer message woven into your Homepage Hero, About/Mission, and Footer in a warm, dignified tone. You can copy-paste these directly into your site. HOMEPAGE HERO FirstLibrary We don’t just give. We walk with families. Helping children grow with care, dignity, and books. At FirstLibrary, 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. ABOUT / MISSION PAGE Our Mission FirstLibrary 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 FirstLibrary, 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 FirstLibrary 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 FirstLibrary, we meet people with compassion and confidence in their ability to grow.” — Kate Ward, Founder FOOTER STATEMENT FirstLibrary 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 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 and regular diaper deliveries 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"' 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 2018 Best Social Assistance Program - Chatham 2022 GuideStar Bronze Seal of Transparency Rotary Club Selects First Library for its “2019 Beds for a Cause” Service Project 2019 My Life Publications - First Library in 7 of its 16 NJ Issues. First Library Founder Interview 2022 GuideStar Bronze Seal of Transparency 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

First Library® Book List Receive extra points when you read (documented on check out receipt) any of the following titles from the First Library Book List .* 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 2022 & Beyond Book List (2 points, unless otherwise noted) INFANTS The Little Red Hen (10 points) Read to Me (5 points) Read to Your Bunny (5 points) ONE YEAR OLDS Ready to Read Good Night Moon TWO YEAR OLDS Jellybeans Love to Read THREE YEAR OLDS Any Berenstain Bears books Lola Loves to Read FOUR YEAR OLDS Frog and Toad FIVE YEAR OLDS Mrs. Bendergarten KIndergarten 1/1 I feel that my child will enjoy reading when they begin the First Library program. Maria U. 2020 -2007 Book Titiles (2 points) 2020 Book List 2019 Book List 2018 Book List 2017 Book List 2016 Book List 2015 Book List 2014 Book List 2013 Book List 2012 Book List 2011 Book List 2010 Book List 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 2009Book List 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 2008Book List 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 2007 Book List *The majority of the titles are from the Book Gifting program. First Library was the first and one time largest affiliate of the program in New Jersey for over ten years and served sixteen communities. 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

Click Here to Add a Title INFANTS Sassy: Bedtime for Baby I Love My Mommy Because Look at the Animals The Pudgy Book of Mother Goose Where’s Ellie? I Love You, Spot The Pudgy Pat-a-cake Book Baby! Talk! Who says Quack? Baby Sounds ONE YEAR OLDS Corduroy’s Shapes I Love My Daddy Because Little Poems for Tiny Ears Sassy: Baby’s First Words Sassy: Let’s Count Good Night Gorilla Llama, Llama Red Pajama Gold Morning, Farm Friends Animals (Picture Show) The Home Builders Vehicles (Picture Show) TWO YEAR OLDS One Leaf, Two Leaves I Hear a Pickle Baking Day at Grandma’s Little Excavator Just Like My Brother Squeak! Play with Me Red House, Tree House, Little Bitty Brown Mouse Sleep Train There’s a Hole in the Log at the Bottom of the Lake Shh! Bears Sleeping THREE YEAR OLDS I Just Want to Say Goodnight Max & the Tagalong Moon Goodnight Numbers The Snowy Day I Wonder My Dog Laughs The Very Hungry Caterpillar Rabbit Listened Daniel’s Good Day The Spiffiest Giant in Town Hair Love Edie is Ever so Helpful Police Officers on Patrol Corduroy Takes a Bow FOUR YEAR OLDS The Ring Bearer Pup & Bear The First Strawberries Bunny’s Book Club Milo’s Hat Trick The Night is Yours Racoon on His Own A Father’s Love The Beach is Loud! Goldilocks and The Three Bears Llama Llama Loves to Read FIVE YEAR OLDS Last Stop on Market Street Tale of Peter Rabbit Blue Sky White Stars Violet the Pilot Fly, Butterfly Daniel Finds a Poem Spend It! Thank you, World My Papi Has a Motorcycle Max Explains Everything: Soccer Expert Carl and the Meaning of Life At the Mountain’s Base Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!

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Poster Click this text to start editing. This block is a good way to divide sections of your page and add some color to your design. Double-click the image to change the background image. The transparent overlay color can also be changed from the "Settings" icon at the top of the block. 61% of children from low-income neighborhoods have no age appropriate books in their homes. Click this text to start editing. This multi-element block is great for showcasing a particular feature or aspect of your business. It could be a signature product, a picture of your entire staff, an image or your physical location, etc. Double click the image to customize it, edit the text, and choose a call-to-action for you button - what do you want people to do now? Learn More ONE in FOUR children in America grow up without learning how to read. Help First Library make it NONE IN FOUR! Donate Learn More

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Literacy Facts Giving children access to print materials is associated with positive behavioral, deducational, and psychological outcomes. Frequency and the quality of words a child hears during their first three years of life are critically important in shaping the child's language development. Children who are read to at least three times a week by a family member are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading than children who were read to less than three times a week. Children growing up in homes with many books, get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents' education, occupation, and class. Children in professional families hear approximately 11 million words per year; children in working class families hear 6 million words; and children in welfare families hear approximately 3 million words annually. 62% of parents with a high socioeconomic status read to their children every day, compared to 36% of parents with a low socioeconomic status. Research has found that 61 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children. In low-income neighborhoods the ratio of book to child is 1 to 300 (1 book for every 300 children). 87% of students who reported reading on their own time once a month or more performed at the Proficient level, while students who never or hardly ever read for fun performed at the Basic level. Students who read for fun every day scored the highest. Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text a year. The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. National Commission on Reading, 1985 Having books in the home is twice as important as the father’s education level. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2010 The only behavior measure that correlates significantly with reading scores is the number of books in the home. The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, 1998. An analysis of nearly 100,000 U.S. school children found that access to printed materials is the "critical variable affecting reading acquisition." JMcQuillan, 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. “American’s Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000. 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. 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). “Mother-child book reading in low-income families: Correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life.” Child Development, 77(4). Children who are read to at least three times a week by a family member are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who are 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, DC, 2002. 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. Southern Early Childhood Association, “Making Books Part of a Healthy Childhood.” Children with greater access to books and other print materials express more enjoyment of books, reading, and academics. Children’s Access to Print Material and Education Related Outcomes. Children who are “well-read-to” (at least five times a week), when asked to tell a story, used more literary language than unread to children, and they used more sophisticated syntactic forms, longer phrases, and relative clauses. They were also better able to understand the oral and written language of others – an important foundation for the comprehension skills that will develop in the coming years. Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. New York: Harper Perennial. Children growing up in homes with at least twenty books get three years more schooling than children from bookless 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. Books contain many words that children are unlikely to encounter frequently in spoken language. Children’s books actually contain 50% more rare words than primetime television or even college students’ conversations. The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. 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. When adults read to children, discussing story content, asking open-ended questions about story events, explaining the meaning of words, and pointing out features of print, they promote increased language development, comprehension of story content, knowledge of story structure, and a better understanding of language– all of which lead to literacy success. Berk, L. E. (2009). Child Development (8th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. 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) Ferst Facts The greatest amount of brain growth occurs between birth and age five. In fact, by age 3, roughly 85% of the brain’s core structure is formed. In contrast, the majority of our investments are made in the traditional education years of K-12, which begin at age five. “Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through age 40.” Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2005. Cognitive processes develop rapidly in the first few years of life. At birth your baby’s brain is only 25 percent of its adult size. By age three your child’s brain will be 80 percent of its adult size. www.zerotothree.org/child-development/healthy-minds.html The developing brain triples in the first year alone and is virtually fully formed by the time a child enters kindergarten. Eliot, L. (1999). What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. Bantam Books. Given the course of brain development, it is not surprising that young children who are exposed to certain early language and literacy experiences usually prove to be good readers later. Just as a child develops language skills long before being able to speak, the child also develops literacy skills long before being able to read. National Research Council. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. 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. Researchers found that when mother frequently spoke to their infants, their children learned almost 300 more words by age 2 than did their peers whose mothers rarely spoke to them. Huttenlocher et al., 1991. Early vocabulary growth: Relation to language input and gender. Developmental Psychology, 27, 236-248. The most important aspect of parent talk is its amount. Parents who just talk as they go about their daily activities expose their children to 1000-2000 words every hour. Hart and Risley (1999) The social world of children learning to talk. In the first three years, infants and toddlers begin acquiring the first of thousands of words they will use throughout their lives. Simultaneously, children are learning the rules of grammar as well as absorbing the social conventions that exist around communication in their community. Im, J., Osborn, C., Sánchez, S. and Thorp, E. (in press). Cradling Literacy: Building Teachers’ Skills to Nurture Early Language and Literacy Birth to Five. Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE. While good early experiences help the brain develop well, poor experiences can literally cause a genetically normal child to have a lower I.Q. Scientific evidence shows that maltreated children who receive little stimulation – children who are exposed to fewer colors, less touch, little interaction with adults, fewer sights and sounds, and less language – actually have smaller brains. De Bellis, M.D., Keshaven, M.S., Clark,D.B., Caseey, B.J., Giedd, J.B., Boring,A.M., Frustaci, K., & Ryan, N.D. (1999).Developmental traumatology.Part 2: Brain development. BiologicalPsychiatry, 45, 1271-1284. Children’s academic successes at ages 9 and 10 can be attributed to the amount of talk they hear from birth through age 3. Hart and Risley, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. By age 2, a child’s brain is as active as an adult’s and by age 3 the brain is more than twice as active as an adult’s - and stays that way for the first 10 years of life. Shore, R. (1997). Rethinking the Brain: New Insights into Early Development. New York: Families and Work Institute. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Benefits Of Books In The Home And Reading To Your Child The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. National Commission on Reading, 1985 Having books in the home is twice as important as the father’s education level. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2010 The only behavior measure that correlates significantly with reading scores is the number of books in the home. The Literacy Crisis: False Claims, Real Solutions, 1998 An analysis of nearly 100,000 U.S. school children found that access to printed materials is the "critical variable affecting reading acquisition." JMcQuillan, 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. “American’s Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000. 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. 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). “Mother-child book reading in low-income families: Correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life.” Child Development, 77(4). Children who are read to at least three times a week by a family member are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who are 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, DC, 2002. 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. Southern Early Childhood Association, “Making Books Part of a Healthy Childhood.” Children with greater access to books and other print materials express more enjoyment of books, reading, and academics. Children’s Access to Print Material and Education Related Outcomes. Children who are “well-read-to” (at least five times a week), when asked to tell a story, used more literary language than unread to children, and they used more sophisticated syntactic forms, longer phrases, and relative clauses. They were also better able to understand the oral and written language of others – an important foundation for the comprehension skills that will develop in the coming years. Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. New York: Harper Perennial. Children growing up in homes with at least twenty books get three years more schooling than children from bookless 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. Books contain many words that children are unlikely to encounter frequently in spoken language. Children’s books actually contain 50% more rare words than primetime television or even college students’ conversations. The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. 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. When adults read to children, discussing story content, asking open-ended questions about story events, explaining the meaning of words, and pointing out features of print, they promote increased language development, comprehension of story content, knowledge of story structure, and a better understanding of language– all of which lead to literacy success. Berk, L. E. (2009). Child Development (8th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. 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) Lack Of Books And Access To Print 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 61% of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children. Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study. (1996). 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 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. 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 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. 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 Consequences When Children Lack Early Language Exposure 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. 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. 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. 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin to Read. Accessed April 16, 2014. 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 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 who aren’t reading at grade level by the end of third grade are four times as likely to drop out of high school. Donald J. Hernandez, Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation. The Annie E. Casey Foundation; Center 68% of fourth-graders in Georgia are not reading proficiently. Georgia Center for Nonprofits 2013 In fact, low achievement as early as fourth grade is a powerful predictor of high school and college graduation rates, as well as lifetime earnings. McKinsey & Company (April 2009). The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s schools. Washington, D.C. 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. 78% of juvenile crime is committed by high school dropouts. “Literacy Research.” National Children’s Reading Foundation. Surveys of adolescents and young adults with criminal records show that about half have reading difficulties. Similarly, about 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. “ Thank you so much for your contribution to my classroom library! Julie ”