Melissa Ross
Improving Duval County’s dismally low child literacy rates is the mission behind Jacksonville’s Read It Forward Jax Coalition.
One of the initiatives that coalition has discussed is looking at ways to get more books into the hands of more kids — particularly low-income children who may not have access to a wide variety of books at home.
That was the intent of former mayor John Peyton‘s JaxKids Book Club. Launched more than 10 years ago, the Peyton administration’s program made all 4-year-old Duval County pre-kindergarteners eligible to receive a free book bag filled with reading tools and a series of Jacksonville-themed books.
Now, the JaxKids Book Club is getting a fresh boost from a new mayor (and his wife).
On June 1, the city’s first lady Molly Curry will help the Jacksonville Children’s Commission launch the 2016 JaxKids Book Club. She will read to pre-K students at a downtown kickoff event at The Salvation Army headquarters. Also on hand to read a story, Barbara Gubbin, director of Jacksonville Public Libraries.
It’s part of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission’s free early literacy summer reading program. Over the next few weeks, 50,000 books will be distributed to all Jacksonville 4-year-olds. Then, at the end of August as children prepare to head back to school, 10,000 4-year-olds will receive a free backpack filled with books telling stories about people and places around Jacksonville.
According to the JCC, since its inception in 2004, the JaxKids Book Club has provided 1,093,596 free books to more than 95,000 children throughout the city.
