Seeking to give local children the skills they need to succeed as they enter school, the Centre County United Way is launching a new county-wide reading program.
‘Raising Readers’ will give free books to children ages 5 and under to take home and read with their parents or caregivers. Personnel will then have a follow-up meeting with the child and caregiver and give them another free book.
‘When adults read with young children it makes them better prepared to start school,’ a United Way news release said. ‘Studies have found that children whose caregivers read to them for twenty minutes a day find reading enjoyable and are ready to enter school with early literacy skills. It sounds so simple, yet 54.6 percent of children in Centre County are at risk for poor school performance (according to the Pennsylvania Department of Child Development and Early Learning).
‘Raising Readers’ will launch with a book drive from March 27 to April 10. Book donations will be collected at donations will be collected including the State College, Bellefonte, Philipsburg and Penns Valley branches of the YMCA, the Centre County Library branches in Bellefonte, Philipsburg and Centre Hall, Kid to Kid, Schlow Library, The Makery and Seven Mountains Media Offices.
Books will then be distributed to United Way Partner Network Agencies that have direct interaction with children from newborns to 5-years old.
The program will be available to all children in Centre County.
