What makes this forest enchanted? Keep reading and find out

If you’re like me, you probably read a newspaper daily as well as books and magazines on a regular basis. You read for pleasure and to learn; your life is richer for all this reading. In other words, reading is a foundational skill that many of us take for granted.

Sadly, not everyone in our community shares our joy in reading, nor is everyone an accomplished reader. Worse still, many of our area’s children are not on a steady path to developing the solid reading skills we believe are necessary in life.

By the end of third grade, 61 percent of Stanislaus County’s students do not read at grade level, which means they’re set up to fall even further behind every year afterward. Third grade reading is a critical benchmark, because it’s that time when students switch from “learning to the read” to “reading to learn.”

This is a problem for everyone. Children who fall behind are more likely to struggle throughout their entire educational careers, leave school early and have fewer opportunities as adults.

We need to raise children in our community to be readers.

It’s a big job that schools and several organizations in our county are working on diligently. But there are ways that individuals can help, too.

Friends of the Modesto Library sponsors a Scholastic Book Fair every November. This event gives anyone living in our community an opportunity to help improve the literacy of our county’s children.

First, you can purchase books to enrich the lives of children you know and love.

Second, you can buy books to donate to agencies such as Children’s Crisis Center, LearningQuest, Haven Women’s Center, Hutton House, Parent Resource Center, Red Shield Center and Redwood Family Center – all of whom will share the book with the children they serve.

Third, the proceeds from this event will be used to purchase hundreds of books which will go directly into the hands of children during the Modesto Library’s annual El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day / Book Day) event in April.

Please help the Friends of the Modesto Library in their effort to raise readers in our community by getting books into the hands of children. Shop at the upcoming Scholastic Enchanted Forest Book Fair.