School’s In!

by Judy Newman

I had a hate/love relationship with going back to school each fall. On the one hand, I hated the end of summer: shorter, chilly days; not being able to go out to play after dinner; and having to wear stuffy school clothes and tight Stride Rite leather shoes that gave me blisters.

On the other hand, I loved the fresh start of a new school year: seeing my friends from other neighborhoods; meeting my new teachers; picking up a tray in the cafeteria and eating American Chop Suey for lunch. 

And, because I was (and still am) a true book person, I loved finding new books to read when I went back to start a fresh school year at the John Ward Elementary School in Newton, MA. Back in school, I discovered new books at the Book Fair and through the Scholastic Book Services flyers my teachers passed out; at the school library with the help of our school librarian; and on weekends at Louis Strymish’s New England Mobile Book Fair, and at the Newton Free Public Library.

It sounds corny but books truly were my friends. Biographies of famous women such as Clara Barton and Molly Pitcher inspired me; historical novels like Johnny Tremain, The Incredible Journey,  Old Yeller, Misty of Chincoteague, and all kinds of animal stories; fantasy novels like A Wrinkle in Time; and just plain reads-for-fun like my Archie comics and tie-in novels such as Meet Corliss Archer (based on the short-lived TV show I never actually watched).

I loved Blueberry Summer and stories about orphans like Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna. And I devoured anything by Frances Hodgson Burnett, including The Secret Garden and A Little Princess (for some reason which I have been meaning to research, my Scholastic edition was called Sara Crewe). I pored over the latest edition of The Guinness Book of World Records; and the book that would become my efficiency manifesto: Cheaper by the Dozen. And on and on. Every one of them taught me, inspired me, and entertained me. 

My identity as a book person started on my mother’s lap as she read aloud to me, was nurtured by my teachers and family, was shared with my friends, and to this day, I feel slightly off-kilter if I am not in the middle of a good book. No matter how busy my day is, I always read before going to bed.

Books and reading were deeply embedded in my life, and going back to school each fall ended that period of the year called “summer reading” and opened a whole new chapter of new books to read and love and add to my bookshelves and embed the characters and their real and fictional worlds into my brain.

Today, in my professional role as Scholastic’s Chief Impact Officer, wherever I go, people tell me about their favorite books. Last week, I attended a School Committee meeting in Western Mass. to share our new literacy program, The United States of Readers. As we discussed the importance of ensuring all children have access to choose and own their own books, the chair of the committee remembered, with true emotion, how much she loved The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and All of a Kind Family. Immediately, everyone else in the room started remembering their own favorite titles. Books and the stories inside them have the power to bring people together.

But not all kids have the same access to books that I did. And for so many kids in this country (we estimate at least 3 million who have no books in their homes!), going back to school does not mean that kids will find books they can choose to read and own and build their home libraries.

Many, many kids in the U.S. today (particularly kids attending under-resourced schools and living in poverty) do not have access to choose books they want to read and are blocked from being able to experience the joy of remembering a favorite book and identifying as readers.

Literacy rates in the U.S.—as measured officially by the government—prove it: only 30 percent of kids in the U.S. can read proficiently today. That means 70 percent cannot read well by third grade and it only gets worse as kids get older. 

No matter what we each think about how our country and our communities should be governed, I believe we can all agree that we do not want to live in an America where only 30 percent of the population can read. That means we won’t have a vital workforce; our prisons will be overcrowded since there is a direct link between illiteracy and incarceration; and our collective pool of future leaders, visionaries, and entrepreneurs will shrink. It’s pretty difficult to realize your dreams and ambitions if you can’t read.

As passionate Harvard Graduate School of Education literacy educator Catherine Snow says, “Every other initiative that leaders might undertake is less important than making sure that the students in the schools learn how to read.”

For many kids, the happy book memories I had are not available to them. Families don’t have the resources to purchase books for their children from Book Clubs or Book Fairs or bookstores. The internet is filled with memes of “I Was That Kid” who couldn’t participate in book programs which should have been a joyful celebration of books and reading for every single child in the school. 

In many schools, teachers do not have robust classroom libraries, and despite the best efforts of many school librarians, school libraries are under-resourced and often filled with musty-smelling old books kids are not motivated to read.

Choosing and owning their own books that they are motivated to read is an essential ingredient for every child’s literacy development. There are two components to becoming a reader: learning to read, through Science of Reading or whatever pedagogical approach individual school districts decide is best for their students; and practicing reading with motivating books that relate to kids.

But this is the beginning of a fresh new school year, filled with hope and promise, and I do not want to be a downer and present a problem without a solution. Making sure all kids have access to choose and own books they want to read and build their home libraries is possible. It is the driving force behind the United States of Readers: a new book club program that we successfully piloted for two years with seed funding from author and philanthropist, James Patterson, to 48,000 students in every state in the U.S. We proved it worked: teachers, kids, and families love the program, and now we are rolling out across the nation.

Through a simple, easy-to-administer program, teachers will give every child in their class equal access to choose and own two books, five times a year (that’s a total of 10 books) from colorful flyers curated by Scholastic editorial experts. Teachers also get a special box of 25 free books to share with students. Families and caregivers get relatable resources to help their children with their literacy development. And the whole school gets the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators and engage in a nationwide community of kids who have growing self-confidence to embrace their literacy and see themselves as readers.

This back-to-school season, let’s all agree on the imperative to make a real difference in all children’s access to choose and own books that will motivate them to read. With the United States of Readers, we’ve started an unstoppable movement. 

School’s in! The time is now.

If you are interested in learning about and supporting the United States of Readers and ensuring literacy for all children, please get in touch. I can always be reached at  JNewman@Scholastic.com or on LinkedIn.

Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer, Scholastic