We are celebrating Emily Ball Cicchini’s five-year anniversary at BookSpring! She joined BookSpring in February 2015 and is proud of all that we, as a board, staff, partners, and volunteers, have accomplished together. In Emily’s words, “…this organization is truly a collaborative labor of love for hundreds of very committed individuals and thousands more who believe in the power of a simple children’s book to positively impact families and build a better future for our children.”
In the past five years, BookSpring has continued to grow and thrive under Emily’s leadership. Our programs have been restructured into healthcare (Rx), education (Ed), and community (Go) partner areas. We’ve increased the number of registered program partners from 79 to about 200. Program services have expanded from primarily within Austin ISD to include Del Valle, Manor, San Marcos, Hays County, and Luling ISDs.
Emily has championed the Summer Success program from pilot to expansion, maintaining increased reading test scores in 60% or more of participating students. She has also overseen the inception and reframing of Pediatric Literacy Kits into WIC and Nurse Home Visiting partnerships, maintaining patient and provider satisfaction scores of 80% or higher.
In her tenure, she launched the 20 Books By 2020 campaign which provides a long-term focus for public awareness for owning 20 books and reading together two times a day. This program is based on the need for books in the home as demonstrated by the Central Texas Reading Survey, which measures the number of Central Texas homes with children under 12 reporting 20 or more books (42% in 2018 to 58% in 2019).
Emily is especially excited about our newest programs – the Zip Code Project, targeting 20 priority zip codes, and BookSpring Days, family-oriented reading celebrations out in the community.
“Thanks for giving me the honor of serving in the Executive Director role for the past five years. I have learned so much, been thrilled by so much, and still have so much hope for the future of this organization and how it will make a difference in the years to come.”
Join us as we celebrate Emily and her contribution to making Central Texas a very special place filled with books and hours of reading for our children and families.
