The nonprofit projects it will reach more than 5,000 children at 81 sites
The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is increasing its efforts to prevent “summer slide” among New Hampshire and Vermont children. Its popular Summer Readers program will reach more than 5,000 children at risk of growing up with low literacy skills and donate more than 10,000 books.
Low-income children with limited access to enrichment activities and reading material are especially susceptible to experiencing summer learning losses. Compared with their peers, low-income children can lose more than two months of learning between school years.
CLiF’s Summer Readers program provides a professional storytelling presentation and brand-new books. All children select two books to keep from a wide variety of high-interest titles selected by a panel of children’s librarians and educators.
The program is “a wonderful literacy experience during the summer when reading tends to drop off among children,” says Jennifer Berkowitz of the School’s Out! Program at Ossipee Central School in Ossipee, N.H. “The free books encourage and inspire the children to read and ensure that they have new reading materials of their very own at home!”
The CLiF Summer Readers program will partner with 81 organizations serving at-risk children across the Twin States in 2015, or 62 percent more sites than last year. “This summer we’ll visit both long term Summer Readers partners and an exciting batch of new partners including summer camps, recreation programs, libraries, school-based summer programs, ELL summer programs, a large New Hampshire WIC nutrition program and a mobile summer meal site in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom,” says CLiF program manager Jana Brown.
In 2014, the program reached 4,082 children at 50 sites throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. The nonprofit projects it will reach more than 5,000 children at 81 sites over the summer of 2015.
CLiF is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998. CLiF has offered five literacy program grants and has donated more than $3.5 million in new, high-quality children’s books. CLiF does not receive any federal or state funds for its programs, relying instead on the generosity of individuals, local companies, social organizations, and foundations. For more information please visit www.clifonline.org
