Launching Children Into a World of Reading
By Joel Gross Photos by Tyler Schmitt / The Mill Photography BookSpring is excited to announce the launch of Summer Success, a new full-scale program designed to address the widespread drop in reading skills that occurs in economically disadvantaged elementary students over the summer. Research has shown that over 80 percent of students from economically disadvantaged […]
By Lori Butler, The Junior League of Austin In this month of sharing thanks and giving back, I pride myself on being able to accomplish this year round as an active member of The Junior League. Fortunately, this year I was able to secure a role in working hand in hand with BookSpring, an Austin-based nonprofit […]
Combining our passions in a deliberate manner leads to maximum community impact! Helen Cordes is a prime example of this. Helen first connected with BookSpring last year when she graciously selected BookSpring as the recipient of sales from her spectacular book and hat packages. Each includes a children’s book and a one of a kind […]
By Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director The statistics about the struggle to achieve full literacy in America are startling and alarming: 14% of Americans are illiterate, with little change over the past decade, and 21% of adults can’t read above a fifth-grade level. Numerous studies connect lack of reading skills to negative life outcomes such […]
By: Rebecca Shah In our house there are about 15 minutes after supper and before we start the bedtime routine that are often challenging for our five-year-old and two-year-old (and, frankly, for us). The kids are tired and grumpy. It feels impossible to share and absolutely necessary to burst into tears about the smallest infraction. […]
Mariela Rodriguez, BookSpringGo Director Earlier this month, BookSpring Champion Dan Rourke celebrated his 60th Birthday with a mission. This was no ordinary celebration. He requested no presents in lieu of putting the spotlight on his 6 favorite charities, including BookSpring! He encouraged his friends, family, and other attendees to donate to one or more […]
By: Luke Arney, BookSpringGo volunteer My journey with BookSpring started over a year ago while I was in my freshman year at Lake Travis High School. During my freshman year in AP Human Geography my teacher, Mrs. Browning, set forth a project that would follow one of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals. As a […]
Birds Barbershop held a book drive in August, during the back to school rush, at each of their 8 Austin and 1 Houston locations. The Birds for Bookworms book drive benefited the ReBook program with hundreds of books. Birds Barbershop is a philanthropic leader in the Austin community. They are always seeking for ways to get […]
Over Half of Austin Children Reading on Mobile Devices A wide body of research consistently shows that reading is one of the most important indicators of personal and professional success, and yet, historically we have known very little about why children and families choose to read. Now, a new reading survey initiated by Austin-based non-profit […]
BookSpring’s van has been hitting the streets throughout Central Texas to get resources needed to children and families through partners already serving them. Tools that will ensure they read and succeed together. With thousands of books constantly flowing in and out of our office, we are keeping home libraries growing and clinic waiting rooms and […]
By: Joel Gross Photos by Tyler Schmitt / The Mill Photography Studio At BookSpring we know one of the most critical areas in students’ early educational journey is stemming the tide of summer reading loss. More broadly, the summer also presents an added challenge to many parents as they strive to fill this out-of-school time with […]
At BookSpring, we are just over the moon this fall – even though it’s time for a solar eclipse! (okay, we’re a little out of sync…) We’ve got a collaboration in the works that has brought so many people together and we are truly excited about it! The Girls Scouts pictured, Fiona Randazzo, Lilia Marshal […]
By: Gauri Dhruva, BookSpringGo Volunteer Signing up to be a Community Reader through BookSpring was a unique experience and I am very glad I got to be a part of it. I will admit that in the beginning, I was a bit hesitant to volunteer because this was an activity that required a lot of […]
BookSpring is a very special place to be. Our mission and vision are tied to the success of children and families and their learning to love books and reading. We can attribute many of our daily successes to the amazing skills and talents of our staff. Today we are saying Bon Voyage to one of […]
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) held their annual conference late July at the Austin Convention Center. We are very grateful that AALL selected BookSpring as the recipient of their children’s book drive. AALL’s Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section addresses issues of social change and social responsibility that are of concern to AALL members […]
Literacy First is an esteemed AmeriCorps program in the Austin community. Since 1994, Literacy First has worked to ensure that children in Central Texas are successful readers before third grade. Not only do these AmeriCorps members provide intensive one-on-one and small group literacy intervention at various Title 1 schools, they also give their time to […]
Macy Wehman, of National Charity League, is pictured reading aloud at the Rosewood Apartment Community Center. Keeping the minds and bodies of families fed is part of the Housing Authority City of Austin’s mission this summer. Through partnerships with the Capital Area Food Bank and BookSpringGo, children and parents- residing at 8 affordable housing locations […]
Manor Independent School District (MISD) has been celebrating literacy all summer long! Children and families can explore reading aboard the “Reading on the Go” Manor book bus. The traveling book bus has been making stops around Manor helping families build their book collection one book at a time. Through a partnership with the ReBook program, […]
BookSpring will host a Parent Book Club training by appointment. The experts at BookSpring have offered Parent Book Clubs for over 15 years. Now, we are bringing our expertise to you. The 3-hour course is led by experienced book club facilitators who will share their best practices. This workshop offers a full curriculum for the […]
Shop at CafePress and a portion of your proceeds go towards BookSpring! Plus, wear our flying book with pride! Visit this link: https://www.cafepress.com/bookspring
Associate Director, Jill Gonzalez and BookSpringEd Director, Wayne Holstine were thrilled to attend the Del Valle Independent School District Education Partners Year End Banquet held at the Circuit of the Americas. BookSpring was nominated in the category of “Big Things Come in Small Packages” award for services provided by a partner with less than 20 […]
(Pictured above: Executive Director Emily Ball Cicchini, President Ann Gass, Immediate Past President Chris Randazzo) BookSpring was pleased and proud to honor some of our long standing board members at our May board meeting, on Wednesday, May 24th. We are blessed with an outstanding board and are always sad to see folks come to the […]
BookSpring has just completed preliminary evaluation of the pilot Read For Success program in Central Texas and the results are very encouraging. The program is designed to reduce the summer slide, a phenomenon where children’s academic skills, including reading, decline during the academic year break. According to Reading Is Fundamental in Washington DC, who originally […]
BookSpring presented BookSpring into Summer: A Celebration of Readers on May 12, 2017. Free Live Performance from the Beloved Biscuit Brothers! A live performance from Austin’s favorite children’s performers The Biscuit Brothers was enjoyed by all. The Biscuit Brothers is a mission driven PBS children’s educational television series. The two-time Emmy award winning program uses a […]
Each year on April 30, El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)—also referred to as Día!—countless libraries and community organizations celebrate the importance of diversity and literacy for all children. Embracing a child’s home language and culture contributes to their cognitive, social emotional, and literacy development. Día emphasizes this! Día […]
BookSpring hosted its annual luncheon on April 21 at the Westwood Country Club. Its charming early 1900’s architecture, hand painted ceiling, and Mexican title floors set the ideal ambience for the 119 BookSpring guests. Total amount raised was nearly $20,000, representing over 8000 new children’s books for Central Texas families. Some of our special guests […]
Pollyanna Theatre Company and BookSpring have partnered up again! Pollyanna’s current show, All Aboard, is great for children of 18 months to 4 years of age. All Aboard, by Bethany Lynn Corey, is a play for very young children that brings the world of transportation to life through colorful characters and motion. The main character, Dani helps her […]
by Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director A little over a year ago, BookSpring was awarded an Impact Grant from IBM to develop a Digital Marketing Strategy for our programs and services. Arranged by BookSpring Champion Beth Tracy, IBM Manager of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, and lead by IBM consultants Karen Kersting and Julian Kamil, […]
Greater Austin Area My Brother’s Keeper (GAAMBK) is an offshoot of the national movement My Brother’s Keeper. The initiative, created by former President Barack Obama, addresses the challenges that young men of color face. The GAAMBK initiative kicked off on March 8, 2015 at SXSWedu. This initiative is a collaboration among city, county, university, and other organizations in […]
One way BookSpringGo builds early literacy through the community is through book giveaways and read alouds! BookSpring receives generous donations of gently used books through the ReBook program. The books are then distributed throughout Central Texas to pediatric medical clinics, community outreach centers, family shelters, libraries, and other social service organizations. St. David’s Episcopal Church […]
