Each Holiday Season, The Family Reading Partnership of Cortland County and The Seven Valley Reading Council sponsor a book drive that provides families with new books to give to their children.

Books for children who are newborn to teen are collected from area schools. These books are distributed to many local organizations such as Catholic Charities, DSS, Salvation Army, Loaves and Fishes, and WIC so that families may select new books for their children for the holidays.

Our goal this season is to collect 1,500 new books! Anyone who would like to contribute new, unwrapped books to Give the Gift of Family Reading, may bring them to Barb Kline at Smith School or to Karen Shirley at Home Intermediate School. The book drives ends on December 7. 

The Family Reading Partnership and The Cortland Area Communities That Care Coalition share the same goals. CACTC is working in many areas of our community to promote healthy families and to foster positive values about education. The goal is ultimately to prevent school drop out by our young people and to help them become productive citizens in the community.

Did you know that this starts long before children reach school age? The Family Reading Partnership grew from the idea that in order for children to be successful adults, they need to know how to read. For children to be successful at reading, they need to love books. For children to love books, they need to hear books read aloud to them from birth and have books at home. The Family Reading Partnership is dedicated to providing books to children beginning with newborn babies.

In the Books at Birth program, parents receive a book in the hospital when their baby is born. Next is Books to Grown On.  At the six “well-visits” between six months and four years old, children receive a book as a gift from their health care provider. All pediatricians and family practices in the county currently participate in this program.

Welcome to School Book provides all kindergarten students with a new book at registration. The Bright Red Book Shelves are located throughout the county and provide gently used books for families to take. In the Book Express program, fifty book bags containing five books each are available for Head Start families to borrow.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out in later years. The goal of The Family Reading Partnership is to weave family reading so thoroughly within the community’s culture that in the same way families know to feed and clothe their children, they will also know to read to them.

Please contact Barb Kline at Smith School, 758-4180, if you would like to know more about The Family Reading Partnership and learn ways that you can help by either donating time or by helping to fund one of these worthwhile projects. As you begin your holiday shopping, please remember the Give the Gift of Family Reading project and purchase a book to contribute to this very worthy cause.  Giving children a book is like giving them a treasure.  As Walt Disney said, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”  . Barb Kline, First Grade, Smith Elementary School, Cortland City Schools