A Bookcase for Every Child

Some national statistics were that 61 percent of low income families in America do not have books in the home for children to read; only 21 percent of parents read to or with their children today compared to 81 percent in 1955; 20 percent of high school seniors can be classified as functionally illiterate at the time they graduate; and 42 million American adults can't read at all.

The bookcase project would be a step toward improving these statistics for Ashland County children and would complement other efforts in the community such as United Way's Talk, Read, Play project and the SPARC goals for preschool education. It would be a community project with Rotary as the initiator and be coordinated with other organizations, such as Head Start and libraries, and involve retired teachers, clergy, newspapers and other business representatives. After a discussion of the project's steps, costs, target group of children, interested local craftsmen, etc., members voted by secret ballot to initiate the project.