Governor's Early Literacy Foundation Delivers 1.2M Books to TN Students & Teachers Over the Summer to Strengthen Reading Proficiency
NASHVILLE, Tenn. , June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To combat learning loss and strengthen early literacy in Tennessee, Governor's Early Literacy Foundation (GELF) today announced the expansion of its K-3 Home Library program to now include all rising 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students enrolled in a public school, as well as librarians and media specialists. In collaboration with Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, the program will deliver 1.2 million books to more than 200,000 students, teachers, librarians and media specialists statewide this summer. Six high-quality packages consisting of grade-level books and evidence-based literacy resources will be delivered directly to the homes of participants, at no cost to families, individual schools, or school districts.
- This year, the program will distribute more than 250,000 additional books to roughly 40,000 more students and teachers than in 2022.
- Research shows that students who do not read over the summer lose two to three months of reading proficiency, but reading four to six books has the potential to stop, mitigate, or reverse this "summer slide."
- This is GELF's fourth year collaborating with Scholastic to deliver books and resources to students and teachers during the summer.
- Many of our students do not have access to books at home so this is a great program to get books into students' hands."