To help create the next generation of life-long avid readers in underserved areas across the country—and spawn a new wave of potential authors—through exposing youths K through 12 to fascinating books and the authors who craft engaging stories.
Who NYBC Serves
Students of color in general and African-American students in particular face systemic barriers that often result in inferior services and minimal opportunities and a lack of exposure to books that can make a difference in their lives.
Those youths are the NYBC’s specific targets. In today’s technologically advanced world, kids are consumed by playing video games and watching music videos, while failing to embrace the power and hope, learning and adventure, dreams and fulfillment that comes from reading books.
Furthermore, many of our most vulnerable citizens too often are without books about relatable people or subjects. It has been concluded that when children want to read, they “drive their own learning,” according to Richard Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic, Inc. “When children read widely and often, they develop higher-order thinking skills called for by (today’s) new standard . . . Reading helps them to feel optimistic and to see a world in which they can reach higher and fulfill their dreams.”