Book ownership encourages children to read, and can turn reluctant readers into book lovers. But as with many essential resources, the sense of pride, skill, and confidence that comes with reading is not available to every child in Calgary. Calgary Reads' mission is to create positive change in literacy outcomes for children by mobilizing education, community, and business to care and act together with ingenuity.

In the past two years, the Calgary Reads Book Bank has distributed more than 14,000 children’s books to over 2,100 families that are clients of the Calgary Food Bank, many of whom now own books for the first time. They also have programs that donate books to children through their schools, and to babies and infants through public health nurses. Through these measures, book drives, and building awareness about the issue, they are helping to shift an imbalance of book ownership in Calgary.

Early Learning and Care is one of Enough For All's Levers of Change, particularly because consistent reading is one of our greatest tools against adulthood poverty. Literacy plays an integral part in adulthood communication skills, earning potential, and lifelong confidence. This important element of childhood development is proven to play an essential role in a successful adulthood, which raises the question: why do so few children have easy access to books, and what can we do to change this statistic?

Children who struggle to read by the end of grade three may not catch up to their peers, risking low self-esteem and learning challenges. This doesn't have to be the case, but surprisingly, nearly 29 per cent of kindergarten children in Alberta experience great difficulty in one or more areas of development. This is high compared to the Canadian average. Without adequate literacy skills and reading confidence, children are set up for a long and arduous struggle through their school years, a struggle which will likely continue into adulthood and employment.

Low-income parents at Reading Place schools said their number one need was books for their children at home. Poorer neighbourhoods have fewer libraries and bookstores, and a smaller selection of quality books in each bookstore. In an extreme example reported in one study, a wealthy community had 16,000 children’s titles for sale compared to just 55 in a poorer community in the same city. Without adequate availability or a wide variety of books, children may not find topics or stories of interest to them, and simply forego reading altogether.

If children do not read over their summer vacation, they experience what is known as a summer slide--a steep loss in reading skills over a few short months--setting them behind their same-aged peers. Statistically, 80 per cent of the achievement gap between middle-income and lower-income children accrues during the summer (Alexander, Entwisle & Olson, 2007). If children read more during the school year because the school library is their primary source of reading material, but they are not provided books during the summer, their year-long progress is compromised due to no fault of their own.

of the achievement gap between middle-income and lower-income children accrues during the summer

of kindergarten children in Alberta experience great difficulty in one or more areas of development

children in Canada grow up without books in their homes

Education is one of the best cures for poverty, and as such, one of the easiest ways to improve early literacy is also a tool for fighting poverty. The mere presence of books improves academic outcomes for children, and as few as 20 books in the home has a significant impact, with the benefits increasing as more books are added. Building literacy skills in children is one of the most effective ways to ensure they can achieve their full potential in school and throughout life. The lower their parents' income, the more a child will benefit from having books in their home. By supporting low-income families in Calgary, we can work to lessen the “word gap” between students.

To become a successful reader, children need books of their own. The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Books are a source of knowledge, experience, and a welcome escape for many children, so providing a wide variety of books to choose from allows children a sense of pride and individuality which they can carry through life.

The most effective summer reading programs put books into children’s hands before summer starts. Why is this? Low-income families may struggle to afford new books or travel to-and-from the library during the summer months. As such, it's helpful and important to ensure that children have their summer reading laid out before their vacation even begins. It's a weight off their parents' shoulders, and a boon to their own education.

“In low-income families, time as well as money are scarce, and books may be considered a costly luxury.”  - The Urban Child Institute

More than 50% of Canadian households don’t spend any money on books and 61% of households in the U.S. contain no books at all. One in four children in Canada grow up without books in their homes, and book access at school and home remains inconsistent, disproportionately affecting marginalized children. Parents working below the living wage are forced to make difficult choices between feeding their family, paying the rent, and buying books. Naturally, books tend to fall to the bottom of the list.

“When poor people, even those at low literacy levels, have a little extra money, they will buy inexpensive books. But some families have so little disposable income, they can’t afford any books.” – Susan B. Newman, University of Michigan

U.S. psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley found that poorer children heard 32 million fewer words by age four than those from wealthier families. This difference in language skills is not actually caused by wealth inequality. Rather, it’s caused by the differences in the quantity and quality of the words children hear at home and the amount of encouragement they receive. Newer research shows that the gap is evident in infants; by 18 months, children of economically-disadvantaged parents are six months behind in language proficiency. Interest in language is evident and very powerful, but because of long hours and the exhaustion inherent to low-paying jobs, parents may not be able to lavish as much verbal attention on their children as they'd like, which has long-term effects.

While this is partially true, most school and classroom libraries are underfunded and unable to meet demand. According to Indigo Books & Music, “The school book budget for one child in the 1970s must stretch to cover nine children today.” Many families also don’t live near a library branch. Transportation to public libraries (when they’re open) isn’t always safe, reliable, or affordable. Without adequate transportation or funding for libraries, many children are left without an option for affordable reading.

Not everyone in Calgary is wealthy. In fact, nearly 1 in 7 Calgarian children live in low-income households, and Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids provides lunch to 3,200 school children every day. Data released from Scholastic’s Kids and Family Reading Report 2017 tells us that households with an income over $100,000 average 127 books, while those with an income below $35,000 average 69 books. The fact is, there is a wealth gap in Calgary, and the more money a child's parents make, the more books they're likely to own.

It can be hard to imagine a life without reading, but for many Calgarians, it's a daily reality. It's easy to jump to conclusions and assume that these realities could be avoided with a little extra attention, or parents who draw a hard line on reading, but the reality for many people is much more complicated than this.

Be an active Reading Role Model who is seen reading for pleasure and purpose.

Read aloud every day with children in your life.

If you are able, donate new and gently-used quality children’s books to Calgary Reads. They will distribute them to children in Calgary who really need them.

Talking Together, Reading Stories Aloud and Owning Books

Adult Literacy and Foundational Learning 

Combating poverty in the earliest stages of life

The Building Blocks of Early Literacy

Combating poverty in the earliest stages of life

Introduction

Problems

Statistics

80%

of the achievement gap between middle-income and lower-income children accrues during the summer

29%

of kindergarten children in Alberta experience great difficulty in one or more areas of development

1 in 4

children in Canada grow up without books in their homes

Solutions

Myths and Reality

How to Help

Poverty and Early Literacy

Talking Together, Reading Stories Aloud and Owning Books