Illinois Public Media’s (WILL-TV) Book Mentor Project gets kids excited about reading, and puts books into the hands of families who otherwise might not have access to them at home. Reading is crucial to success in school and life, and since 2004, WILL-TV’s Book Mentor Project has provided support to minimize the literacy gap between middle-income and impoverished children by the time they reach kindergarten.
Volunteers from local businesses, community service organizations, student associations and parent groups are recruited and trained to assist in this project. The Book Mentor Project has provided over 700 preschool-aged children from low- income families in Champaign County, Illinois with six to eight books per year, and a pair of trained caring community volunteers who read to them in their classroom and engage them with a book-related activity.
WILL-TV partners with Champaign County Head Start and the Champaign Early Childhood Center to reach these children and their families. The children attend book-related classroom field trips at museums, planetariums, local farms and libraries and then return to these same sites with their parents who are given support to engage their children in a book-related activity and the latest PBS KIDS app.
In addition to classroom visits, the project now reaches children and families through online games and videos, DVDs, mobile apps, classroom math and science kits, and family nights.
For more information about Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project, visit the project website. Connect with WILL Education on Facebook and Twitter.