Breaking Down Barriers To Reading East Of The Anacostia
WAMU:
12.06.2018 by Sasha-Ann Simons
When
Derrick Young and his wife Ramunda opened MahoganyBooks on Good Hope Road
Southeast last year, it was the first bookstore to open in the neighborhood in
decades.
“In
this community, it’s been 20-plus years since a bookstore has been here,” Young
says.
The
bookstore, which focuses on African American literature, is one of several
attempts to increase reading and literacy east of the Anacostia River.
A 2016 study published in New York University’s Urban Education
Journal labels these neighborhoods as book
deserts: areas where printed books and other reading material are hard to
obtain, and particularly where there is limited access to transportation.
U.S.
Census Bureau data shows that 21 percent of adults in the nation’s capital
struggle with illiteracy. Residents of Wards 5, 7 and 8 have among the highest
functioning illiteracy rates in the District. These adults struggle to do
things like read to their children or fill out job applications.
The
Role Of Libraries
Richard
Reyes-Gavilan, the executive director of the D.C. Public Library system (DCPL)
says that accessibility isn’t the only issue. While circulation totals for both
physical and digital books in DCPL have increased to their highest level
overall, participation remains poor among both adults and children in Wards 7
and 8.
“How
do you go from access to being a lover of reading? That’s what the library
tries to figure out every single day,” says Reyes-Gavilan.
DCPL
has started some new initiatives to help foster a love of reading from early
childhood.
Two
years ago, DCPL launched its Books From
Birth program, which mails all enrolled kids in D.C. a free book every
month until they turn five. Children receive books that are appropriate for
their age. There are no income restrictions to qualify for the program. LISTEN
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