Books inspire students to pass on the love of reading

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Eighth-grade English teacher Dana Phillips did not know how to read when she was in the second grade.  She faced school with confusion and frustration, until one teacher gave her a book.  Miss Libby Lee handed her a small book entitled I Mean It Stanley in 1984 during Phillips’ second grade year, and it changed the direction of her life in a big way. 

“This book said that I mattered,” said Phillips.  “That I was important.  That I was a reader.  If it weren’t for this book, I would not be standing here in front of you today.”

Phillips is talking to students at O. Henry Middle School in West Austin .  The young people are taking part in BookSpring’s “Be a Book Hero” Read-A-Thon . 

In addition to incentive prizes they will receive for reading, gathering sponsors and reaching their goals, each student will have the chance to deliver a book to a younger low-income student in the Austin Independent School district who may not have many books at home. 

Each book is called a “forever book,” one the child will get to keep.  Just like their teacher Dana Phillips was inspired by a book she received in second grade, the middle school students hope to pass along their love of reading and spark a new direction in a child’s life.

Passing along “forever books” was the idea of O. Henry’s librarian Sara Stevenson.   She was looking for a way to jumpstart participation in the Read-A-Thon several years ago, and she started taking students on a field trip to pass out books in elementary schools.  The idea worked and more students began taking part. 

Stevenson calls the plan the “perfect equation.”

Twenty-four Austin area schools are taking part in the Read-A-Thon that wraps up Friday.  The schools are in the Austin Independent School District and the Eanes Independent School District.  Other private schools are also involved.  Students get sponsors, set reading goals and help raise money to buy books for children who need them.

BookSpring programs reached more than 40,000 children and families and distributed more than 91,000 books in the Central Texas community. 

According to BookSpring, a recent study shows that in low-income neighborhoods the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.  In middle income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1. 

While a typical middle-class child enters first grade having been read to for approximately 1,000 hours, the corresponding child from a low-income family averages just 25 hours. 

Furthermore, children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 to 4 times more likely to drop out of school in later years.