Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Book Project

Update: I'll plan on sending my books at the end of January- so if you want me to ship yours give them (or it) to me by Jan 31st.  okie dokie?

My friend Ali from grad school is living in the Virgin Islands and working as a speech therapist.  I just received this email from her, asking people to donate books to the children she works with.  I think it's such a great idea!  (I did a whole project on the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on language development and literacy- and parents reading out loud to their kids is definitely one of the solutions!)  If you want to, you can give me your books and I'll ship them in one big box...


The Book Project
Books to Encourage Language Learning

CALLING ALL BOOKS!! Do you or does someone you know have extra children's books lying around the house? I am currently working in the US Virgin Islands, a place where over 50% of children are born to teen mothers, 30% of children live in poverty, and 75% of 4th graders scored below the basic reading level on standardized assessments. 

As a professional, I have witnessed:
• Four-year-old children who are not able to hold a book with appropriate orientation
• Children who are language delayed simply due to a lack of stimulation
• Children who spend numerous hours watching television because little/no other toys or books are present in their environments

My goal is twofold:

1. Bring books into the house of every child who lives on St. Thomas, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
2. Educate parents and caregivers regarding ways to use books to encourage language development.

To accomplish this goal, once I have collected enough books to distribute to over 100 families, I will be holding a parent seminar (free of charge) entitled "Using Books to Stimulate Language Development." At the conclusion of the seminar, parents and children will select books to take home- books that have been generously donated by people across the United States. That's where you all come in. As St. Thomas is an island, it is both extremely difficult and extremely expensive to get resources down here. These factors further prevent merchandise such as developmentally appropriate toys and books from reaching the children and families who desperately need them. The US Postal Service has a shipping rate called Media Mail which is quite economical and can be used for shipping books. As St. Thomas is a US Territory, international shipping rates do not apply. In conclusion, I'm asking anyone who is able to please help me give books and bring language to disadvantaged children. Mail your new, gently used, thrift store, and/or garage sale-found children's books to:

Ali Steers
PO Box 307585
St. Thomas, VI 00803

On the inside cover of each book, feel free to enclose a personal message, your name, and/or the location from which the book(s) is/are coming. Although the parent seminars will be geared towards infants/preschoolers, books for older children are welcomed as well. Please share this information with your friends/family/coworkers. Even if everyone sends only one or two books, together we can make a difference!! Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity.

Ali Steers, Speech-Language Pathologist
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands


1 comments:

  1. great plan! when do you hope to send a box?

    ReplyDelete