The REAL Program, in Lynn, MA is kicking off their 2021 campaign to bring 250 REAL Little Free Libraries to the city’s neighborhoods this fall beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kiley Park, Lynn on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm. The REAL (Reading and Educational Assistance for Learning) Program Executive Director, Jan Plourde, M.Ed, REAL students, families, board members, and volunteers will join Lynn Mayor, Thomas McGee and uniformed members of the Lynn English High School varsity sports teams in celebration of the installation of the first Little Free Library at Kiley Park.
The REAL Program caters to children’s different styles of learning and needs by offering caring experienced volunteer teachers, multitudes of learning materials and books, and opportunities to learn about themselves, each other, and the world around them in indoor and outdoor classrooms and on field trips. Families and caregivers are offered ESL classes to support their children’s educational success.
The U.S. is facing a literacy crisis in which our current generation is less literate than the previous generation. Studies show that a child who is not reading by the third grade is four times more likely to drop out of school.
Nearly 100,000 children and families in Lynn will benefit from the neighborhood libraries. Currently, there is only one public library in the city serving it’s growing number of residents. Due to lack of funding, the library annexes were closed over a decade ago. Only 7 out of the city’s 18 public elementary schools have dedicated school libraries. The REAL Program aims to have The Little Free Libraries serve as miniature neighborhood libraries throughout the city.
The REAL Program volunteers will keep the libraries stocked primarily with books for early readers and those learning English as a second language. The REAL Program Executive Director, Jan Plourde invites local businesses, residents, and educators to build, paint, stock and sponsor the libraries. To help bring literacy to the Lynn community, contact Jan Plourde [email protected].
Image: Volunteers teamed up on Friday, August 6, 2021 at The REAL (Reading and Educational Assistance for Learning) Program located at 17 Atlantic Street, Lynn, MA to begin building 250 Little Free Libraries to serve local residents as neighborhood libraries.
The REAL Program, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization 17 Atlantic Street • Lynn, MA 01902. The REAL (Reading and Educational Assistance for Learning) Program’s mission is to improve literacy in Lynn, Massachusetts. Sponsors are Someone Else’s Child and Breckinridge Capital Advisors.