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Our Story, Staff, Partners, Sponsors, Board of Directors Dear Friends, This past year has been a definite challenge for all of us. We have seen far too many people lose their jobs and far too many cuts in funding vital for family programs. The outstanding efforts of our dedicated volunteers and staff as well as the generosity of our supporters have enabled MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS to survive in these hard times. This year we have put nearly twice as many books into the hands of our young children as last year. We have also launched a major public awareness campaign, Read to Me, Arizona!, to help families realize that reading aloud to young children is critical to their success in school and throughout life. We are especially fortunate to be chosen by Social Venture Partners – Greater Tucson as an investee literacy organization. Not only are we receiving significant funding from them over three years, but also we are benefiting from the invaluable guidance and consultation Social Venture Partners share with us in their areas of expertise. They have already greatly assisted us in building organizational capacity to serve more children and their families. Significant funding from the First Things First voter initiative has increased our capability to serve more children and their families. In turn, our staff has doubled in the past year. We now have a total of eight awesome MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS team members who work hard every day to provide resources and services for young children and their families and to promote early literacy. Imagine if we could keep doubling our efforts every year! Imagine an Arizona where all young children have books at home and their parents read to them every day so that they enter kindergarten ready to be successful in school and in life. It is your continued generosity and belief in our mission that will make it possible. Sincerely, Mary Jan Bancroft |
MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS started in 1998, when Dr. Mary Jan Bancroft established the first picture book libraries at Pio Decimo Center. She was the original storytime volunteer, reading to three classes on a weekly basis. To date, MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS has placed libraries at over 110 preschools and child care centers in Tucson. Many of these feed into elementary schools where children score significantly below average on standardized tests. MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS is making a difference in the lives of young children and their parents, by exposing them to the pleasures of reading before they enter school. We believe a child who has never been read to, has never held a book or turned the pages, is unprepared for school. For her commitment to children and early literacy, Dr. Bancroft was awarded the Service Award in the Adult category by Governor Janet Napolitano in April, 2005. She was listed as an "Everyday Hero" in the 2002 tribute book of the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona. In 2001, the International Reading Association and the Tucson Reading Council honored her for "Exemplary Service in the Promotion of Literacy." Also in 2001, Dr. Bancroft was nominated for the YMCA "Woman on the Move" award. Meeting A Need: The U.S. Department of Education reports that more than 40 million adults in this country are functionally illiterate. In recent surveys, the state of Arizona placed among the last in students dropping out of high school. Children living in educationally and economically disadvantaged homes often enter school two or more years behind their peers and are two to three times more likely to drop out of school. Without books or other reading materials in the home and a parent who reads to serve as a role model, many children grow up with severe literacy deficiencies. MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS targets preschools in limited resource areas that feed into elementary schools where students score significantly below average on standardized reading tests. We provide programs from birth to age five that help to ensure that children arrive in first grade with the necessary early literacy skills to be successful. Children need to be encouraged at an early age to develop positive attitudes toward books and reading. These attitudes usually result in voluntary readers. Considerable empirical evidence indicates that voluntary reading correlates with success in school. According to Jim Trelease, a well-known advocate for reading aloud to children, "major research in the last twenty-five years confirms that regardless of sex, race, nationality, or socioeconomic background, students who read the most, read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest." Mary
Jan Bancroft, Ph.D. Founder & Executive
Director The generosity of individuals, Corporations and Foundations is essential. Countless individuals have supported MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS. These generous gifts are an essential and important source of funding that impacts all of our programs. For a list of individual supporters, please contact our office to receive a copy of our annual report.
FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATIONS Thank you!
Steve Brong, M.B.A.
President |
