United Way of Richland County kicked off its second year of Big Red Bookshelf at the Mansfield YMCA on Monday afternoon.
Children sat smiling with books on their laps, and community leaders emphasized the importance of reading.
“Early language and literacy begins to develop within the first three years of a child’s life…Children who struggle reading books are four times more likely to drop out of school,” said United Way Executive Director Bob Maxey.
To help bolster childhood literacy, Big Red Bookshelf provides new or gently-used books to children ranging from the ages of newborn through third graders.
So far, over 4,000 books have been collected to be dispersed throughout Richland County. The books are given away via several Big Red Bookshelves in Richland County including the Mansfield Area YMCA, Richland County Job and Family Services, Mansfield/Ontario/Richland County Health Department, Women, Infants and Children program and the Bellville Neighborhood Outreach Center.
Speaking to the children seated in front of him, Richland County Commissioner Ed Olson stated, “Reading is not something that you do just within the classroom, but you need to read at home, too, because you’ll find that everything in school and everything in life will become easier if you’re a good reader.”
The Big Red Bookshelf is an ongoing project of the United Way of Richland County and is made possible by volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of Mansfield, Richland Bank, Richland County Youth and Family Council.
The project has seen participation from local schools: Mansfield Senior, Madison, and Pioneer Career and Technology Center. Pioneer students helped build the bookshelves.
Monday’s event was sponsored by ServeOhio, Ohio’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism, which donated $1,000 for the purchase of children’s books and pizza from Two Cousins’ Pizza.
Each child in attendance received a copy of “Bear Snores On.” The Mansfield Mavericks cheerleading squad and the Mansfield Senior High basketball players read to the children in small groups.
Richland Bank and the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library met with families to discuss literacy, including finance literacy, and the resources available in the community.
Community members can get involved in the Big Red Bookshelf project by donating their new or gently-used books to any of the bookshelf locations, or by calling United Way at 419-525-2816.
“Reading is not something that you do just within the classroom, but you need to read at home, too, because you’ll find that everything in school and everything in life will become easier if you’re a good reader,” said Commissioner Ed Olson.
