Bringing children and families to books,
and books to children and families
There are two proven ways to increase a child’s likelihood of reading:
1 - Make sure there are books in their home - Children growing up in homes with many books go on to receive, on average, three years more schooling than children from bookless homes.
2 - Give them the chance to choose what they read - 93% of children say their favourite books are the ones they pick themselves, and 92% say they’re more likely to finish a book they pick themselves.
All of our programs are aimed at giving children access to the joy and benefits of their very own books. We distribute books through community partners who serve low-income households, as research shows that low-income families have significantly fewer books in their homes.
We give books to every child we encounter — no questions asked.
To deliver on our promise of a brighter future for all County kids, our team of volunteers and collaborators work with the community to deliver 600+ books per month through three types of programming:
school visits
We partner with Prince Edward Collegiate Institute (PECI), Sophiasburgh Central School, and Athol-South Marysburgh Public School to give children the chance to come together and listen to a story, before they get to choose their very own books from our collection.
Each of the schools in the program have been specifically selected as they over-index on children from low-income households, and therefore the impact of free books goes even further.
PECI students are invited to visit our Book Room located at St Mary Magdalene Anglican Church in Picton.
County Kids Read volunteers go directly to Sophiasburgh Central and Athol-South Marysburgh Public Schools — books in tow.
our impact:
We give out books to hundreds of county students during 50+ school visits every year.
Community Event Distribution
We bring and share a wide selection of books at our own events, as well as others within the community. This is the perfect way to ensure that we’re bringing books to children and families because we’re turning up where they already are and having fun.
our impact:
We distribute books at over 30 community events each year.
Community Partnership Distribution
We make getting books seamless for low-income households by bringing books to the places and spaces that are built to support them. By layering literacy into the work of our incredible partners who are protecting many other essential human rights — food, shelter, clothing, education — our community partnership program brings books to the places where they’re most needed.