Books for the Border and Beyond connects church groups with communities where families lack reading materials at home. The initial emphasis was on seven Texas-Mexico border counties included among the 20 poorest in the United States. But, since poverty prevents access to books by people in every community, Books for the Border and Beyond has grown to assist churches in providing literacy needs throughout the state and even beyond its borders.
The why of Books for the Border and Beyond
Literacy Connexus champions early literacy. The focus of our efforts is encouraging and equipping parents to read to their infants and small children.
Why this approach?
Research shows that the foundations of literacy and learning are laid during infancy and toddlerhood, with families functioning as the first language teachers. ( Zero to Three, National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families).
Building a culture of literacy starts in the home, but, too often, low-income parents lack the means to acquire books.
According to the American Federation of Teachers, 2009, a middle-income child enters first grade having 54 age-appropriate books in the home, and having been exposed to about 1,000 hours of one-on-one picture book reading time. A low-income child enters first grade with zero to two age-appropriate books in the home, and having been exposed to about 100 hours of one-on-one picture book reading time.
By age three, the low-income child will have been exposed to one-third the amount of words the middle-income child has heard, and the resulting language gap will widen as they progress through their school careers.
By third grade, according to a brief by the Pre-K Coalition, supporter of The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, students without a basic level of competency are more likely to struggle academically and have behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades. The report includes National Research Council data showing that the likelihood of a student graduating from high school can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing his or her reading competency at the end of third grade. Children in poverty account for 70% of those who do not graduate from high school.
There is a direct link between a lack of books in the home–via children not being ready for kindergarten, and, subsequently, not graduating from high school–to families stuck in generational poverty. By providing beginning home libraries, the Books for the Border and Beyond project is a strategic first step in developing family literacy programs, ultimately resulting in lifting families out of poverty.
What is the single most important thing to do to address poverty in the United States? According to Tom Prevost, retired, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions Office: “Literacy.” What is the single most important thing to do to improve literacy? “Getting babies ready to read by the time they’re toddlers.”
We believe that every child deserves to grow up in a home with books.
Books for the Border and Beyond projects
Seldom do any two Books for the Border and Beyond projects start in the same place or take similar shape or direction. Projects typically arise out of one of the following scenarios:
- My church is planning a border mission trip and is looking for a big-impact ministry project
- My church has collected books to give
- My church needs books for a literacy project
- My church wants to do a bookcase-building project
- My church needs bookcases for a literacy project
My church is planning a border mission trip and is looking for a big-impact ministry project.
A border literacy project encompasses gathering books and building bookcases prior to the mission trip, and then conducting a family reading fair at the border location.
This project typically requires 2–3 months of planning and preparation.
This Books for the Border and Beyond project has the potential to change lives by placing beginning home libraries in homes where no print material exists. The effects of this ministry will be felt long after your church departs the border location, and will, hopefully, open doors to a continuing relationship with the border church and community.
Of all of the Books for the Border and Beyond possibilities, this project–where your church involves itself in the planning and execution of every phase of the ministry–will have the biggest impact on the members of your own church.
Consult Books for the Border and Beyond Planning Guide for direction.
My church has collected books to give.
Books should be new or gently used, and include only those that reflect high morals and standards. Sort books according to age/grade levels.
Consider building bookcases and planning a family reading fair for your own community or for your next border mission trip.
Click to connect with projects that need books.
My church needs books for a literacy project.
Consider conducting a book drive in your church, in the same manner as a food drive.
Establish an on-going book collection point in your church using a sample Books for the Border and Beyond bookcase located in a prominent location.
Click to connect with projects that have books.
My church wants to do a bookcase-building project.
Consult bookcase plans and directions.
Consider collecting books and conducting a family reading fair in your own community.
Click to connect with projects that need bookcases.
My church needs bookcases for a literacy project.
Consider enlisting a seniors, youth, MOPS, or other group in your church to build bookcases as a service project.
Consult bookcase plans and directions.