Reading gurus Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp have a new book out, Game Changer: Book Access for All Kids. In it, they emphasize the importance of classroom libraries and the importance of offering young people access to books.
If you’re on Twitter, they’re leading a weekly chat, #bookaccessforall. It’s an inspiring group of educators who care deeply about young people and their reading lives. They spend countless hours raising money to purchase new books for their students. It is heartwarming that so many teachers from across the country are working hard to get books into the hands of students.
The Kindle Classroom Project also believes in universal and unlimited book access for kids. Young people should be able to read what they care about, what interests them, what will spark their curiosity. They should be able to follow their passions.
This Winter Break, more than 1,000 middle and high school students in the Bay Area are enjoying the right to read without any impediments. As long as their Kindle is near them, they have access to whatever books they want to read.
Yes, it’s a cliché, but KCP students have a library in their hands.
One of my favorite things during Winter Break is seeing which students request new books to add to the KCP Library. The program’s all-volunteer book buying team never goes on vacation. We grant students’ book requests 365 days a year. When a young person wants a new book, we deliver it within 24 hours. The whole point is to keep the reading going.
The reading keeps going because of generous donors from across the country. Some give money for books; others donate their used Kindles. The holiday season is the time when some people upgrade — maybe to the Kindle Oasis, or the Paperwhite 4 — and want their older Kindle to find a new home. In this era of planned obsolescence, Kindles last a long time. Just ask KCP teacher Erin’s 150 10th graders, who are enjoying their Kindle Keyboards (circa 2010). Young people don’t always need the newest gizmos; sometimes, all they want to do is read.
This holiday season, the eighth in KCP history, it’s heartwarming to know that so many young people have so much access to the books they love. It’s also heartwarming to know that there is a community to supporters who are helping to build this healthy, robust reading community.