News Release: 9/27/06
Believe
it or not, there are millions of children and families who want to read but
don’t have access to libraries or worthy resources.
That
is about to change for thousands of American Indian families. Much needed books
are making their way to American Indian parents and children in family literacy
programs across the nation thanks to Better World Books and the National Center
for Family Literacy.
The
effort will support the literacy development of families participating in the
Family and Child Education (FACE) program funded by the Bureau of Indian
Education and in operation in states including Arizona,
Idaho, Kansas,
New Mexico and Mississippi. The FACE program is coordinated
by NCFL and is the nation’s longest running family literacy program.
Many
of the sites are located in remote desert or plains areas where there are no
main libraries and schools have limited resources, according to NCFL. More than
25,000 books will be given to families with children birth to eight-years-old.
“We’re
going to be providing books to a lot of families that just don’t have books in
the home,” said
NCFL’s Sharyl Emberton who coordinates
NCFL’s services to the
FACE program. “Families who attend programs in these schools will be able to
select a variety of books. They will be able to build their own home
libraries.”
The
high-quality books are the result of partnerships with over 500 local libraries
who give their discarded and donated books to Better World Books to benefit
their literacy partners.
Better
World Books initiated its partnership with NCFL immediately following the 2005
Hurricane Season to provide a long-term solution to the social and economic
devastation and has contributed more than $80,000 of cash funding to support
the organization’s literacy initiatives.
In
addition to the FACE program, NCFL works with literacy programs throughout the U.S.,
helping families in need gain necessary literacy skills. Each year, NCFL
programs help more than 60,000 individuals by supporting programs including the
Hispanic Learning Institute, the Bureau of Indian Education’s Family and Child
Education program, and—most recently—providing relief to families displaced by
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.