Reaching Families Where They Are: Examining an Innovative Book Distribution Program via Steinhardt NYU

#soarwithreading

Study Finds Access to Books and Support from Adults Enhances Children’s Learning

Steinhardt NYU: 5.01.2018

Reading aloud to children has been touted by experts as a key to developing skills early in life that translate into later academic success. In fact, a 2014 position statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics called for parents to read aloud to their infants starting from birth.

At the heart of these recommendations is the assumption that all children have the opportunity to learn from a selection of high quality, age-appropriate books. However, a recent NYU Steinhardt study of three major cities shows that access to books remains a significant barrier to reading with children; many poor neighborhoods were found to be “book deserts,” or communities with limited to no access to children’s books.

A new study by NYU Steinhardt finds that an innovative book distribution program that provides free children’s books in low-income neighborhoods, combined with supportive adults who encourage reading, can boost children’s literacy and learning opportunities, finds

         “ Both physical and psychological proximity to books matter when it 

              comes to children’s early literacy skills,” said Susan B. Neuman, 

              professor of childhood and literacy education at NYU Steinhardt and

              the study’s lead author.  “Children need access to books in their 

              neighborhoods, as well as adults who create an environment that

              inspires reading. ”

Funded by JetBlue and published in the journal *Urban Education, the study examines a community-wide effort to promote greater access to books through a book distribution program in neighborhoods identified as “book deserts.”

Four low-income neighborhoods – three in Detroit and one in Washington, D.C. – received with vending machines that dispensed free children’s books over the summer months, a time when children traditionally have less access to books.

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The study was designed to capture how, why, and in what ways these machines were used. Neuman and her coauthor, Jillian Knapczyk, used several measures to examine how greater access to books and adult support for book reading functioned within these communities.  READ MORE >>

*Reaching Families Where They Are:

  Examining an Innovative Book Distribution Program