Letter from the President
Dear Friends,
What started out with innocent questions to some East Harlem elementary students about their home reading and learning they had no books at home gave birth to an all-volunteer organization of over 60 enthusiastic book lovers dedicated to offering inner-city third graders a unique invitation: "Come with us on a class shopping trip to a beautiful bookstore, browse through the wonderful selection of children's books, and MY OWN BOOK will give you $50 to buy books and start your own library at home."
Our mission is simple and urgent: to foster the love of reading and the joy of book ownership among New York City’s inner-city children. Studies show an important link between having books in the home and a child’s chance of future success in life. An important study, included in this report, published by Learning Point Associates reveals the positive impact access to print materials has in young children. In keeping with that premise, we aim to help level the playing field for those children who do not have the opportunities to journey through a bookstore to select and purchase books for their own private enjoyment.
This year alone, more than 4,500 children have participated in our program by purchasing over 30,000 treasured books. Since the inception of My Own Book 12 years ago, almost 30,000 children (many of whom had never been to a bookstore) brought into their homes more than 150,000 books, to be read and re-read whenever they like.
I am proud to say that this year My Own Book has received an impressive acknowledgement from the National Book Foundation which has awarded us their Innovations in Reading Prize honoring those individuals and organizations that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading. This unexpected, but welcomed recognition from a respected national education organization could not have been possible without the exceptional work of our dedicated volunteers who visit with the children at the schools and work with them and their teachers at the bookstores to make sure they select the books that are just right for them. We have grown to 75 volunteers who are committed to enhancing literacy one child at a time.
I urge you to review the interesting information in the Annual Report regarding the surveys taken from teachers, principals, students and parents where they express their own insightful thoughts about the impact our program has had on the children. In addition to the Learning Point summary, you will also find in this report a recent op-ed by N.Y.Times Columnist David Brooks about the importance of having books in the home as not only an avenue to higher test scores, but even more importantly, as a critical building block in developing a child's self image.
The testimonials included on the site are priceless. Please take some time to view them.
Burt Freeman
Founder
September, 2011
