How Many Books Do Your Children Own?
In middle class neighborhoods the ratio of books to children is 13 to 1. In low income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 book for every 300 children. When my kids were little our income bordered on low, yet we owned many books. How many books do your children own?
The Children’s Book Bank in Portland, Oregon was opened to address this issue. Owner Dani Swope works to collect new and gently used books from the community to give to preschool children who don’t have books of their own at home.
As a volunteer, I spent an evening helping her sort and clean books that she would later package into bundles to bring to children in need. She talked about her experiences teaching, discovering that the problems she had teaching them math had more to do with their lack of reading skills than lack of math skills. She showed an obvious passion for her work, thrilled and a bit amazed at both the generosity of the community and the need she is trying to fulfill.
Sorting through the books brought back many memories of my children when they were young. Many books I remembered reading to them, many I knew they would have loved. I can’t even imagine a world without books.
For more information or if you want to volunteer or donate books, you can contact Dani at: danis@childrensbookbank.org.
