Charities That Encourage a Love of Reading

Around this time of the year, many people are in an especially charitable mood. There is just something about the holidays that pushes people to give to causes they believe would make the world a better place. One thing that would surely make the world a better place is if everyone knew how to read.
 

Photo via the Love of Reading Foundation's Facebook page.

Quite a few charities exist that promote literacy and, in turn, foster a love of the written word. In an article for GalleyCat, Dianna Dilworth highlights "10 Charities That Encourage Reading." Among these 10 charities, the best known is Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). Anyone who grew up in the United States in the 1970s and '80s has seen the widely aired "Reading Is Fundamental" television commercials and thus were made more than aware of the RIF campaign to push for child literacy. According to its website, RIF "is the largest children's literacy nonprofit in the United States. We prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. We inspire children to be lifelong readers through the power of choice. RIF provides new, free books for children to choose from and make their own."

In addition to Reading Is Fundamental, Dilworth shines a spotlight on:
 

• Books to Prisoners ("Books to Prisoners is a Seattle-based, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that sends books to prisoners in the United States")
• Books Not Bars ("Books Not Bars organizes the largest network of families of incarcerated youth and champions alternatives to California's costly, broken prison system")
• World Literacy Foundation ("World Literacy Foundation is an independent not-for-profit charitable body, founded in Australia in 2003. We acknowledge education as a basic human right, and believe that literacy unlocks the door to a life of learning")
• Reading Hamlets ("Reading Hamlets is a nonprofit organization that's dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty through literacy by providing books to children, particularly girls in rural Nigeria")
• Room to Read ("We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary schoolchildren, and support girls to complete secondary school")
• Love of Reading Foundation ("Our mission is to encourage a love of reading in every child and give them the chance to reach their full potential")
• ProLiteracy ("Our answer at ProLiteracy is simple. To solve all of these socioeconomic problems and more, we must start by building a more literate adult population")
• World Reader ("We start early using e-readers in primary schools. Kids begin reading thousands of local stories together with great international books that we've curated into the largest, most culturally relevant library of books")

If you would like to read more about these pro-literacy organizations - and donate to them - then click on any of the hotlinks above.