Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. is the oldest and largest nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. Founded in 1966, it is based in Washington, D. C. RIF's community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory provide 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. RIF's priority is impoverished children from birth to age 8 years.

All RIF programs combine three essential elements to foster children's literacy: reading motivation, family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing free books to keep. RIF's accomplishments are due in part to the generous financial assistance by the U.S. Department of Education, corporations, foundations, community organizations, and thousands of individuals.

History

In 1966, former teacher Margaret McNamara brought a bag of used books to four boys in Washington, D.C., whom she tutored in reading. When she told the children they could each select a book to keep, their astonishment and delight led her to discover that these children, and many of their classmates, had never owned any books. By that summer, McNamara had gathered a group of school volunteers, and on November 3, 1966, they launched the book distribution and reading motivation program they called Reading Is Fundamental. From November 1966 through the early 1970s, RIF expanded from a pilot project at three elementary schools in Washington, D.C., to a program reaching children in 60 of the city's public schools. Its well-known slogan during those times was "Reading is FUNdamental".

In 1975, the U.S. Congress created the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP) which provides federal matching funds to sites that qualify for RIF's national book program. Today, through its contract with the United States Department of Education to operate the IBDP, now supplemented with private funds, RIF programs operate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. RIF is also affiliated with programs in Argentina and the United Kingdom.

In 2004, Kappa Kappa Gamma, a national women's fraternity, selected RIF as its national philanthropy.^[1] Together, Kappa and RIF have developed the "Reading Is Key" program, through which children are exposed to new books. Every year, the Delta Nu Chapter at UMASS Amherst holds a book drive to donate to the program. ^[2]

Leadership

In November 2001, Carol Hampton Rasco was named president and chief executive officer of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. Throughout her life, Rasco has been an advocate for children, youth, and families, as a professional and as a volunteer. Before this position, Rasco was the executive director for government relations at the College Board. From 1997 through 2000, she served as the senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley, and as director of the America Reads Challenge, a four-year national campaign to promote the importance of all children reading well and independently by the end of the third grade. Previously, Rasco worked for four years in the White House as domestic policy adviser to the president and directed the Domestic Policy Council.

Programs

RIF's flagship service is Books for Ownership (formerly known as the National Book Program), which also supplies children with free paperback books. RIF also offers several special literacy services which, in addition to supplying the services of the Books for Ownership program, target their efforts to specific age groups or populations. RIF serves children at a wide range of venues, including schools, libraries, childcare centers, Head Start programs, parks, community centers, health clinics, migrant camps, and domestic shelters.

References

External links

• Reading is Fundamental website