BOOKS FROM BIRTH
building libraries at home, in schools, and across the community
Low-income parents struggle to provide necessities for their families, including books for their children. Without books to read at home, students often enter Kindergarten behind and struggle to catch up in grade-level reading proficiency. If not caught up by third grade, they falter in later grades and often drop out before earning a high school diploma.
Books from Birth, a ReadNYC initiative, aims to fix this problem by saturating low-income communities with culturally relevant books at home, in schools, and across the community. In addition to access, cultural relevance significantly influences a child’s educational success. To help families build at-home libraries and a Home Literacy Environment, UWNYC partners with community-based organizations to deliver parent engagement workshops, emphasizing the importance of grade-level reading proficiency and educating parents on how to foster this in their children.
AT HOME
Our partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides families with young children ages 0 through 5 years old, a book each month, delivered right to their homes. See if you are eligible for this program here.
IN SCHOOLS
Our focus is building appropriate classroom reading level libraries with culturally relevant books, as well as providing ReadNYC’s Once Upon a School Year curriculum, supported by Books from Birth.
IN THE COMMUNITY
We work on the ground to build community libraries and reading spaces and host read-aloud events with bilingual, Spanish, STEM activity, and social emotional learning books.
The Results
Children who participate in Books from Birth enter Kindergarten more prepared to learn than their non-participating peers and that children who are enrolled in the program for longer periods of time are more likely to score higher on academic assessments into third grade. Further, this research indicates students who participated in the program are more likely to have increased school attendance and less likely to be suspended.
89%
of parents believe that their child’s enthusiasm for books have increased since signing up for Books from Birth
82%
credit Books from Birth for spending more time reading to their child
80%
believe their child is better prepared for Kindergarten
96%
of parents credit Books from Birth has helped them create an at-home library
Watch these videos to learn more about Books from Birth. For questions and inquiries, contact ReadNYCBooks@uwnyc.org.
Why this NYC mother believes a home library is essential for the development of her children
UWNYC in Action: Books from Birth
ReadNYC: Books from Birth | Students & Parents
Parent Testimonials
“She loves it! She has her personal library with her books.”
“Thank you for sending books to my son. He loves to receive these books. He would hold the book, turn pages, kiss the characters, asks questions as a 1-year-old would ask.”
“We use them to read at night everyday. She especially love the fact that the characters look like her. We love the books, thank you.”
