Evansville Literacy Initiative Targets Early Reading with Home Libraries

Friday afternoon was a special day for 1,500 EVSC (Evansville Vanderburgh County School Corp) students in grades K-3. They left school not just with backpacks, but with the first pieces of their very own home libraries: a book and a crate.

At Delaware Elementary School, students were all smiles as Principal Tera Babb joined representatives from the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana, Mattingly Charities, the Mayor’s Office, and Evansville Promise Neighborhood (EPN) to hand out the first books and storage crates.

Inside one kindergarten classroom, students leaned in with anticipation as their teacher read aloud from I Don’t Want to Read This Book Aloud — the very first book they would take home. Moments later, they decorated their crates with stickers and markers, carefully personalizing what will become their first collection of books. The excitement was immediate and visible.

Walking through the halls, it is easy to recognize Delaware is a school that encourages its students. Along the entrance hallway, a variety of mirrors line the wall with a message that reads: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, there’s a leader in us all.” This initiative brings that message to life: pairing encouragement with access and putting the tools for literacy directly into students’ hands.

The book distribution is part of the City of Evansville’s broader “We Read” campaign, a citywide effort aimed at ensuring every child is reading on grade level by third grade. The home library initiative is being carried out through a partnership between the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana, Mattingly Charities, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Evansville Promise Neighborhood, and the City of Evansville.

Through the program, students in kindergarten through third grade at Evans, Delaware, Lincoln, Lodge, and Glenwood Academy will each receive 13 new books over the coming weeks. Preschool students at Evans and Lodge are also included. Each child receives a crate to store their books at home.

Evansville Promise Neighborhood, which works to improve educational and family outcomes in targeted neighborhoods, is helping anchor the effort in schools where the need is greatest. “Low-income kids have one book for every 300 children… So if you don’t have a book to pull off the shelf to read, how are you going to improve your reading skills at home?” said Sean Kuykendall of the YMCA.

The program comes at a critical time, as Indiana now requires third-grade students to pass the IREAD exam to move on to fourth grade. “When you have a book and your kid walks up to you and says, ‘Hey, read this book with me,’ it invites that opportunity for families to read,” Kuykendall said. The YMCA has operated similar efforts in past years but on a smaller scale. This year’s expansion — reaching 1,500 students — was made possible through new funding and partnerships.

              Back in the classroom, students compared their crate decorations and talked with excitement about reading through their new book. For some, it was their first time taking home a book of their own.