POSTED BY: THE REPORTER March 6, 2024

Research shows that just the presence of books in the home improves educational outcomes. Books are critical and access to those resources is one of the greatest contributors to educational equality.

Despite all this, books are scarce for many students – meaning they are at a disadvantage from the start.

The Kiwanis Club of Cicero wants to close this gap and promote a love reading, by providing free books to Hamilton Heights Elementary School students throughout the year. Through its new program “Books For a Bright Future” students will be able to choose free, age-appropriate books at the school bookfairs as well as providing books for the school district’s bookmobile that distributes books throughout the summer months to keep students engaged in reading throughout summer break.

“The goal of our Books For a Bright Future program is to help build the foundation of learning, by providing free books to these students,” said Todd Clevenger, President of the Kiwanis Club of Cicero. “Literacy attainment is tied directly to academic achievement and lifetime outcomes, and we are committed to lifting up our community by raising readers and ultimately paving the way for lifelong learning and literacy.”

“The mere presence of books profoundly impacts a child’s academic achievement,” explained Dr. Derek Arrowwood, Superintendent of the Hamilton Heights School District. “Regardless of how many books a family already has, each addition to a home library and books young readers can call their own, helps the children get a little further in school. When it comes to the role of books and reading in increasing achievement, the facts are indisputable. The Kiwanis Club of Cicero’s program will help us get books into the hands of our younger students, helping to build the foundation of academic achievement.”

How important are time and engagement with books? Research shows that the difference they make is nothing short of miraculous. Engaged readers spend 500 percent more time reading than do their peers who aren’t hooked on books. All those extra hours inside books they love gives them a leg up in everything that leads to a happy, productive life. A deep conceptual understanding of a wide range of topics, expanded vocabulary, strategic reading ability, critical literacy skills, and engagement with the world that’s more likely to make them dynamic citizens drawn into full civic participation.

Sharing books, talking about them, and reading them aloud is the greatest precursor of success for children in all areas, especially reading. Again and again, it’s found that the most important indicator of students’ success in school and beyond is captured in the simple question: do they read?

Nowhere is access to books and the intellectual benefits they hold more evident, than in the phenomenon known as the “summer slide” or “summer setback.” Research by Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen in 2009 showed a decline in reading skills through the months when students have no access to school or books to read. Summer reading loss accounts for at least 80 percent of the reading gap by ninth grade, according to their research.

“I read somewhere, Johns Hopkins research maybe, that children who receive and read free books over the summer experience the equivalent of attending three years of summer school, and the difference in fall reading scores is twice as high,” Clevenger said. “This obviously is a fact not lost on the Heights School District as they instituted a summer bookmobile program providing access to books for students throughout the months of summer break. The Books For a Bright Future program will also provide free books for every student, regardless of grade level, that visits the bookmobile throughout the summer.”

“The negative consequences of lack of access to books are devastating for individual students, but in reality, their collective setbacks affect us all, often leading to higher dropout rates, lost earnings and tax revenues, increased need for public assistance, and so forth,” Dr. Arrowood said. “We need to find ways to get books into our younger students’ hands and into their homes, because it’s the right thing to do. The Cicero Kiwanis’ Books For a Bright Future program is exactly the type of initiative to make that happen.”

The Kiwanis Club of Cicero’s goal is to raise $10,000 to jump start this program and begin providing books at the May Elementary School bookfair.

“We are well on our way to our financial goal of $10,000 in part due to a generous grant award from the Kiwanis Children fund of $4,000, as they truly believe in the mission of the program,” Clevenger said. “But we are looking for additional funding and more permanent funding to sustain the program long-term.”

The Kiwanis Club of Cicero is looking for community partners such as church groups, business groups, other service organizations, local businesses, and individuals to help sponsor and fund the Books For a Bright Future program moving forward. To contribute to the program, you can go to cicerokiwanis.org, scroll down and click on the Books For a Bright Future photo halfway down the page and make a secure online donation.

“Every dollar raised will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the lives of the young students we aim to serve,” Clevenger said. “Together, we can empower these children to unlock their full potential and create a brighter future for our community.”