Books for Keeps is posting some impressive numbers after the organization’s annual book give-away.
The Athens nonprofit handed out 74,000 books to more than 6-thousand students, most of them local, though the organization is involved in four counties. Executive Director Leslie Hale says research shows the effort helps prevent summer slide.
“Our program has some pretty great initial evaluation results that show that we are moving the needle for those students, we are advancing the students who participate in our program one to two months’ worth of reading achievement over a single summer,” according to Hale. “We’re actually helping advance those students who have the most need, who are at the most risk.”
Over 400 volunteers were involved. Each student receives 12 books.