From Our CEO, Kelly O’Lague

“Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” ~Plato

I grew up in a family of readers. My mom loved to read and she cultivated in my sister and me a love of reading. Visits to the library were frequent, books were treasured and reading for fun was part of every day.

I didn’t realize as a child what an incredible gift my mom was giving me. When I became a mom, this gift, the love of reading, is something I wanted to give my children. Ultimately, though, the gift was mine. I see my kids, all now in their twenties, reading about current events, reading for pleasure, reading to broaden and expand their thinking. And now we have another generation of little ones to read with. Reading really is magical!
Jacqueline Kennedy is quoted as having said, “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”

The United States is facing a literacy crisis. Yes, crisis. It isn’t new, but its impacts upon our kids, our economy, and our society are far-reaching and expanding. How bad is it? Take a look at some numbers. More than 30 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level. Children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves. These children are more likely to get poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out.

At Child Care Links, our primary mission is to help families access the resources they need to thrive. Clearly, one of the best ways to do that is to promote literacy! This month, we are encouraging you to join our Race to Reading Adventure!

Every book you read entitles you to one entry in our contest! Read a book to a child and get two entries! All you have to do is email us at read@childcarelinks.org and tell us the name of the book(s) you read and the date you completed the book. We will enter you into our Child Care Links Race to Reading Adventure drawing. Thanks to our generous donors, some of our lucky readers will win gift cards to Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee or Vitality Bowl.

We will also be hosting a Family Read Night on March 29th! Join us in Pleasanton or Oakland for an evening of family fun while we cultivate a love of reading!

One last thing…when you’re done reading a book, consider donating it to Child Care Links. If you need a book to read, stop by and pick one up at our office. Together we can tackle the literacy crisis and build a better future for the kids in our community!