Photo: Michelle Wimmer
Madison Reading Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013 and located at 8030 Excelsior Drive, Suite 306, Madison, WI. Our mission is to deliver high quality literacy learning reinforcement programs to underserved children, engaging them in differentiated literacy activities designed to create not only a love of learning, but build and reinforce age-appropriate skills needed to develop the young reader.
Key to mission success is involving the entire family in literacy activities. We reinforce this learning by giving away free multilingual companion books, which encourages children, alongside their parents/caregivers and siblings, to build family libraries, leading everyone to literacy delight!
We provide a variety of literacy-related experiences to schools, child/family welfare agencies, community centers, libraries, neighborhood gathering spaces--wherever underserved need is identified, throughout South Central Wisconsin. Our deliverables include providing literacy programming, small library curation, storytelling, arts & crafts, and our most beloved: free books! We offer parents/caregivers tips on how to better connect with their children by integrating literacy involvement in the home that is centered on reading and sharing books.
Access and exposure to printed and spoken words improve a child’s brain development, in turn helping with language acquisition and comprehension skills. Being read to by a caregiver is vital for a child, who learns to associate reading with bonding, caring, and enjoyment.
Difficulties in reading are directly linked to drop-out rates, unemployment, and crime rates. Schools and libraries, vital as they are to education, do not always offer enough of an access point to help underserved children overcome literacy obstacles. Studies have shown that if a child in 3rd grade is not reading at a 3rd grade level, future learning will be a struggle.
Almost 13 million American children live in poverty. A low-income home does not always have the luxury of purchasing books. To help address these challenges, Madison Reading Project works to ensure that more children can have their own self-selected books in their own home.
We invite you to explore our website to learn more about what we do and how you can be involved in changing a local child’s life. Better yet, contact us and we’ll connect you with ways to help.
