Children’s literacy nonprofit SMART Reading and SELCO Community Credit Union have banded together to celebrate National Reading Month with a community book drive.

The goal is to collect new and gently-used children’s books, which will be sorted, cleaned and given away to local children. The book drive is part of a larger effort for SMART Reading to increase book ownership for local kids.

For over three decades, SMART Reading has paired volunteers with students for one-on-one reading sessions and given participating students two new books to keep each month. Now, as the result of a merger with Portland-based nonprofit the Children’s Book Bank, the organization is in the early phases of setting up a book bank to source and redistribute even more books to students in Central Oregon

“Access to books is so critical for kids as they’re developing their reading skills,” says SMART Reading area director, Jennifer Zardinejad. “Adding a book bank in Central Oregon will be a multi-year process, and book drives like this one are the first step. It’s a wonderful opportunity to pass on books your own children have outgrown and know that they will become a treasured part of another family’s bookshelf.”

Research shows that having 25 books in the household produces on average an additional two years of total educational achievement. Already this school year, SMART Reading has given away more than 7,800 books to local children. Book drives like this one will allow the organization to expand its impact to additional students.

From now until March 29, books can be dropped off at all SELCO branches in Bend and Redmond during business hours.

About SMART Reading:
SMART Reading is a statewide children’s literacy nonprofit that serves kids in Oregon’s highest-need schools and communities with two ingredients critical for literacy and learning success: shared reading time and access to books. We mobilize volunteers to read with PreK through third-grade children, building confidence, literacy skills and a love of reading. Since 1992, we have paired over 150,000 volunteers to read with 290,000 children, and have put over 4.5 million books in the homes of the children we serve.

SMARTReading.org • 541-797-7726