Just in time for Kids and Teens Wednesday- an important announcement!
Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester, located at 65 James Street in Worcester, MA, is proud to participate in this year’s book drive for Worcester – The City That Reads, organized by retired educators John Monfredo and Anne-Marie Monfredo.
There is a large donation box located near our front door for new and gently used books appropriate for children ranging from kindergarten to grade 8. For books purchased at our store and donated to this book drive, we will offer an additional 10% off your total purchase and will provide a receipt for your tax records.
In John’s own words from this September 2014 article:
“A child who is not reading at grade level by the end of the third grade is in danger of not catching up and will enter middle school and then high school behind and struggling and possibly becoming a dropout. According to research, reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. Yet every year more than 80 percent of low-income children miss this crucial milestone.
“This is the achievement gap you have read about for across our nation children from poor families of all ethnic groups continue to fall behind because they can’t read well enough. As a community we need to focus on reading and guarantee that every child can read at or above grade level by the end of the third grade. The research is not new for much has been written on this topic. The evidence continues to point out that the third grade is an important pivot point in the child’s education. It is the time when students shift from learning to read to beginning to learn.
“Thus, nine years ago as retired educators my wife, Anne-Marie and I started Worcester: the City that Reads. It was our intent to call attention to this crisis in education and to try to do something about it by alerting the community through an awareness campaign. One of activities that we continue to do is collect books for children preK to grade 8 and put them into the hands of children for summer reading. In nine years, with the assistance of the community, we have collected over 200,000 books and placed them into schools, social agencies and into the hands of our children. Now we are working with a host of partners to make a difference in the lives of our young readers.”
Books will be collected from now until April 30, 2015.
The book drive is just one way in which Worcester truly is The City That Reads. Information about the all-year-read literacy initiative can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Worcester-The-City-That-Reads.
Our thanks for continuing to support us as your friendly neighborhood bookstore and our efforts to give back to our community.
—Patty and the staff at ABSW
Annie's Book Stop of Worcester 