The Bring Me A Book National School Consortium
Since 1997, nonprofit Bring Me A Book has been bringing the joy and transformational power of books and reading to children in under-resourced communities. We believe that literacy is a civil right that begins with defining oneself as a reader and choosing books that help strengthen identity—culture, languages, values, and developing knowledge of the world—while also planting the seeds of civic engagement.
“When students possess the skills necessary to access, select, use, and effectively evaluate their reading materials, their ability to become engaged members of their communities and productive citizens is enhanced.”
(2019 NCTE Position Statement on Classroom Libraries)
BMAB has developed an replicable, sustainable model—equity-through-choice-and- collaboration—that engages children, families, educators, librarians, and the community. Informed by the research of Stephen Krashen (2021) and Keith Lance and Debra Kachel (2021), our model aims to accomplish the following:
EQUITY THROUGH CHOICE AND COLLABORATION: HOW IT WORKS
• Promote reader agency, identity, and choice —and a sustainable, lifelong reading habit for all
• Create culturally responsive book abundance from home to classroom to school — including outreach to the public library
• Foster equity through collaboration—when classroom teachers, families, and school and public librarians work together, students benefit in multiple ways
Our goal is to grow confident and capable readers on their way to developing a lifelong, sustainable reading habit, using the community resources of the school and public libraries. In this way, children learn to craft their own joyful reading plans in ways that enhance their lives— personally and academically— benefitting their families and the community beyond.
Our participating schools and literacy champions include:
BRING ME A BOOK NATIONAL SCHOOL CONSORTIUM
EQUITY IN ACTION: CHOICE AND COLLABORATION
Literacy Champion: Brooke Kuhn
Literacy Champion: JoEllen McCarthy
School Librarian and Literacy Champion: Mikki Uppena
Literacy Champions: Dr. Barbara Flores and Gabriella DeLeon-DeHaan
Literacy Champion Dr. Felicia Durden