1. Indiana: Let's step up literacy efforts
Christine Rhine 1:02 p.m. EDT August 25, 2016
The following essay is one of four selected in celebration of Indiana's Bicentennial in partnership with the
Delaware County Bicentennial Committee, The Star Press and TEAMWork for Quality Living. Writers were
asked to discuss "Dreams of Indiana." Authors of published essays will receive a "Dream Kit" good for
entrance, experiences and prizes at DreamFest, noon­5 p.m. Saturday at Delaware County Fairgrounds. —
Editor.
My dream is to see the Hoosier State become the Literacy State. Imagine that all of our children have high­
interest books in their homes. That parents learn the joys of reading aloud, that preschoolers have board
books to call their very own, that all of our boys and girls have stacks of early readers and then high­interest
chapter books to capture their imaginations and challenge their minds.
This is a big goal, and realizing it would take the whole community. Here in Muncie, United Way is part of Imagination Library, which mails a book a
month to sponsored children. By5 sets up and stocks Little Free Libraries and gives away books to preschoolers. I know a teacher who gives each of
her children a book of their choosing at the end of the school year. There are others who help: Kids Hope volunteers assist with homework. Motivate
our Minds provides reading instruction and enrichment activities. Muncie Public Library has a literacy coordinator who visits families at home. I am
sure there are others.
THESTARPRESS
Indiana: Neighbors becoming friends
(http://www.thestarpress.com/story/opinion/contributors/2016/08/24/indiana­
neighbors­becoming­friends/89264460/)
Yet the problem is large: 72 percent of Muncie students receive free or reduced lunches, a common gauge of poverty. Parents struggling to make rent
cannot afford books for their children, and not everyone can make it to a library once summer arrives and schools are closed. Yet literacy is so vital:
Children who don't read well by fourth grade will continue to fall behind. They won't comprehend their middle and high school texts. They won't
become critical thinkers. Poor readers are less likely to go to college and more likely to be trapped in low­wage jobs.
Literacy is critical to improving quality of life, to ensuring that all Hoosiers are able to contribute.
But what can you do? What can I do? Well, I wondered, too, so I decided to try something. I set up a GoFundMe account with a goal of raising $300 to
buy books for children in the Whitely neighborhood. A friend introduced me to super volunteer Mary Dollison who has the network to get books to
children.
THESTARPRESS
Indiana can move forward by looking back
(http://www.thestarpress.com/story/opinion/contributors/2016/08/23/indiana­can­
move­forward­looking­back/89203398/)
It was a modest goal, a timid testing of the waters, and easily achieved. I felt a little guilty about how much fun I had hunting for bargains and selecting
books and thanked God for the opportunity.
Now I'm dreaming bigger. What if we could send every at­risk elementary student in Muncie home on the last day of school with a bag of great books
for her to keep? What if that gift translated into an excitement to read over the summer and combated that dreaded "summer slide" that steals so
much of students' progress?
Books for Keeps does this in Athens, Georgia, targeting schools with the highest rates of poverty. Their volunteers shop smart and find high­quality
books at low prices. For $600, they can provide each child in a classroom with a dozen books. We could do this in Muncie. We have businesses and
churches that could sponsor entire classrooms. We have people who could donate smaller amounts. We could shop at discount book fairs, set up
donation bins in businesses, churches, and at city hall. It might take all of us an entire school year to do it, but the goal is reachable.
(Photo: Photo provided with
permission by DreamFest Facebook
page, TEAMwork for Quality Living)

2. Maybe we could help keep all of our kids reading at grade level. Or above. Success is contagious, and other communities might follow suit.
Researchers could analyze test results and see whether the efforts have measureable effects. Perhaps we could create a summertime Muncie
storytelling festival for all ages. Perhaps we could quadruple the number of Little Free Libraries. Perhaps ... perhaps we all get involved with
donations, ideas, and energy, and together we make Indiana the Literacy State.
Christine Rhine is a former newspaper reporter who home­schooled her children and now works as administrative coordinator for the Department of
Urban Planning at Ball State.
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