With KSBY's "If You Give a Child a Book" fundraising campaign, you're giving children in your community an opportunity to build their reading skills and foster a love of learning.
Destiny Corovic said she’s started teaching her two kids to read from a very young age. At two years old, her oldest son is being exposed to books on a nightly basis.
“I think knowledge is better through physical copies rather than online, and we don't really know what's real and what's not these days," Corovic said. "I feel like that's a hard part two of just getting them away from that and more into like the physical books.”
She said she was inspired to get her kids comfortable with reading after hearing from teachers that some of their students rely on AI and don’t know how to read or write.
“I really want them to be able to read and write and not rely on AI or ChatGPT and really have that knowledge just to go on in life, because I feel like it's a really big thing that a lot of kids are losing," Corovic said.
A study from Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, California ranks 29th out of 35 states in academic growth in reading between 2022 and 2025. According to the Nation’s report card, only 32% of children in the fourth grade tested above the NAEP proficient level in reading in 2022.
That’s where KSBY’s "If You Give a Child a Book" fundraiser steps in. In partnership with the Scripps Howard Fund, we work with four local Title I schools to host Scholastic book fairs where students can pick out their own books for free. The goal is to help break the cycle of poverty and set up the next generation for success.
Kelci Gonzalez is a library technician at a local Title I school, Oceano Elementary School.
“Literacy really is the foundation for success through your whole life," Gonzalez said. "We talk a lot about that at school. This is this is really the building block for success in your life.”
Oceano Elementary is a Title I school, meaning most students come from low-income families. Gonzalez said sometimes the school library is the only place students have access to books.
Gonzalez said her students look forward to picking out the books that they want to read. She said their ability to choose helps them start on a path to lifelong reading.
“We've received this for several years in a row, and so some of our students have built a whole home library with this program," Gonzalez said. "They start asking me at the beginning of the year if we’re receiving it because they're so excited, and I think, too, it has just made kids excited about reading.”
Corovic said she believes if you give a child a book, you’re letting them develop in crucial ways.
“I really want my boys to, you know, grow up really loving books and loving learning," she said.
To donate to the campaign, visit our donation page.
