Read Across America: March 2

Read Across America Day - March 2
Celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday !
sponsored by the National Education Association

A troubling chapter: Schools, under increasing pressure with cutbacks, find new ways to make books available for students. Denver Post: February 21, 2010 by Carol Eron Rizzoli

March 2 is Read Across America Day, the day that the National Education Association calls for every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult. Unfortunately, in some towns and cities — including Denver — there are children and families who don't have any books and won't be able to participate.

This sad situation came to my attention by way of my daughter, Amanda, who had landed her first teaching job in a Denver elementary school. Equipped with a master's degree and student-teaching experience in Detroit, she was nonetheless distressed. She had never heard of a school without a library.

. . . . . . . . . .

All this, I might add, was before fiscal cutbacks in education became front-page news nationwide. In California, a proposal is now pending to close all the school libraries in Pasadena. Municipal libraries, which kids might turn to when the school library is inadequate or nonexistent, are also in trouble, with reductions in staff, acquisitions funds, and library hours.

In the Denver area, four public libraries closed recently, as have libraries in Detroit and Philadelphia, along with cutbacks in hours and services all over the country, from Hawaii to the well-to-do suburbs of Washington, D.C.

That puts more pressure on the libraries that remain, not just by families who don't have access to books and the Internet at home but by people who are limiting their book purchases as a result of the recession and job losses. Not a pretty picture — though to my mind, school kids need help first. READ MORE !

Oh, the Places You'll Go . . .

Start at Twitter and follow Read Across America tweets, here's a few:

Language_Today: Read Across America tomorrow, Mar. 2nd!! http://bit.ly/b2L20A

USSenateNews: SENATOR COLLINS DECLARES MARCH 2nd "READ ACROSS AMERICA" DAY http://twurl.nl/xfkt3e

Librariansview: Celebrate Read Across America Day! with stories and crafts today 10 am Orange Public Library & History Center! www.cityoforange.org/library

justBurbank: Mar 2 is NEA Read Across America Day. Here are great books to read aloud with your kids. Go to the library & pick one up. http://ow.ly/1cRpH

SenatorHagan: In charlotte, Sen. Hagan celebrates Read Across America by reading the cat in the hat to 1st graders at statesville rd elementary

thebplibrary: "6 Days of Seuss" Mar 1st-6th at 4pm in the children's library. Help us celebrate Read Across America!