Sheffield — Students at Undermountain Elementary School in Sheffield are about to get a lot of free books. Undermountain is one of a handful of Title I schools across the state to take part in the launch of the United States of Readers literacy program from the children’s publishing giant Scholastic. Title 1 schools are public schools that receive federal funding to assist students from low-income families.
Seventy percent of children in the U.S. don’t read proficiently in third grade. “But what we know at Scholastic from kids’ and family reading reports is when kids choose their own books, they read more,” its Chief Impact officer Judy Newman told The Edge. However, giving kids access to a wide range of popular books “in which they can see themselves” and that “represent all kinds of experiences” can be a challenge.
Under the program, every student from pre-K to eighth grade will receive 10 free books that they select over the course of the year, and teachers will each get 25 new books for their classroom libraries to share and read aloud. The books are extracurricular, meant to encourage independent reading across all genres, for pleasure and practice. “It’s connecting kids to books that they choose,” said Newman. “It’s all about choice.” She hopes the program will “demystify” reading. “It doesn’t have to be some long journey to a small corner.” Kids just need time to see themselves as readers and be confident to say, “I’m a reader.”
The Gov. Maura Healey’s administration contributed $750,000 to implement the program in urban areas of Revere, Quincy, Framingham, and Holyoke. Undermountain wasn’t selected to participate, but Superintendent Dr. Beth Regulbuto put to use money left over in federal Rural Aid funds to bring the program to the southern Berkshires. It felt like a natural extension of SBRSD’s “huge literacy initiative,” she told The Edge, in an area spread out across 300 square miles, where getting to a library may not be easy and many towns only got internet access a few years ago.
“I’ve been working really hard at trying to get this district on the map and get Rural Aid fully funded,” said Regulbuto, who was on her way to present at the National Rural Conference in Savannah. “This is a perfect example of how sometimes small rural school districts are overlooked when the urbans have a bigger population and a higher percentage of Title I. They deserve it, they need it, but sometimes they forget that we’re out here … I’m trying to make sure that they hear the value of Rural Aid, and what we use it for.”
Newman applauds Regulbuto’s efforts and notes that there are 3 million kids living in rural poverty in this country for whom access to things like books can be tricky. “The economics of it aren’t there because the populations aren’t as concentrated,” she explained to The Edge. “We’re going to take the Commonwealth by storm, and hopefully the country, to hold up a flag for rural kids.”
Massachusetts is the first state to implement the program, following a two-year pilot “to make sure we could operationalize it,” explained Newman. “We took books into Nunavut, Alaska, by sea plane—talk about rural—Mississippi, Maine.” The pilot program, funded largely by bestselling author James Patterson, served 45,000 students spanning every state and Puerto Rico and provided the “research component to prove efficacy and impact” in every state. “Otherwise, you’re just handing out books,” said Newman.
The Massachusetts launch serves 10,000 kids, and the goal is to expand to every Title I school in Massachusetts, then to other states, possibly starting with Pennsylvania and Michigan, which are supportive of literacy, and ultimately to areas of high need with low reading proficiency and “book deserts.”
Undermountain hosted a third event to celebrate the launch on October 30, with an upbeat performance by bestselling children’s author and Massachusetts native Jerry Pallotta, who last year did a whopping 118 school visits. “He’s our rock star,” enthused Newman. “He has pizzazz.” Pallotta shared his process and answered questions for a rapt audience. His “Who Would Win” animal book series relays scientific facts about animals in the format of a hypothetical match-up: killer whale vs. great white shark, jaguar vs. skunk. “He’s the best hunter on earth, he could eat the skunk in one second, but he doesn’t want to be stinky for two weeks.” The entire gymnasium erupted in screams of sheer delight.
After the assembly, teachers brought stacks of Pallotta’s books back to the classroom. A couple of fourth graders who were already fans of his told The Edge that he should do “person vs. alligator” and “iguana vs. rattlesnake.”
Kenzie Fields, who lives in the community and works remotely for Scholastic, said Pallotta’s unusual niche books made a perfect showcase for the program launch. They are very accessible for non-readers, and the program, which she called a “gamechanger,” is about inclusivity and equity. “Only some kids love reading. Some have really negative associations with it.” When kids have choice and access to books and can have their own libraries, there’s a “cascading effect,” she believes.
“The choice part of it is huge,” echoed fifth grade teacher Jane Schur, who claimed that the energy around reading had shifted in her classroom. “It’s not just ‘here’s a free book.’ It’s ‘here’s a bunch of different free books that you could choose from.’ Giving them that option is really powerful, because kids who are very reluctant readers were excited to pick out which books they wanted to read.” Unlike a book fair, United States of Readers levels the playing field for every kid in the class.
“We had such a fun time even unpacking the books together as a class. It was a community moment,” Schur describes. Kids were excited for one another and commented on what others chose. One boy chose a Taylor Swift biography, and everyone was like, “You like Taylor Swift?” He said, “Yeah, why?” They got their own little book plates and put their names in their books; it is about ownership, Schur said. “They wanted time to read their books, they wanted time to take them home. You could just see them getting excited. They can’t wait to get more books.”
