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First Book Canada, a national charity, visited Harbour View School in Dartmouth where children’s illustrator Ron Lightburn, a resident of the Annapolis Valley, read to Grade 1 students from his book Juba This, Juba That.

Kids were given a signed copy of the book about a boy named Juba and his adventure with a magical yellow cat.

The visit was in celebration of First Book Canada’s distribution of about 35,000 new books to children in need in the Halifax-Dartmouth area.

The distribution took place from November 9 to 12.

Wayne Cochrane, director of operations for First Book Canada, says the most important factor to literacy is access to books.

First Book serves more than 15, 000 groups across Canada. The books are distributed to children from lower-income families.

First Book works with publishers, who donate their surplus inventory that would otherwise be destroyed.

Donations for this month’s Halifax-Dartmouth distribution came from local publisher Lorimer Books.

First Book estimates 25 per cent of household’s in Canada don’t have a single book in their home.

Organizers hope that improving access to books will create a love of reading that will improve literary skills and educational opportunities.

“A lot of our volunteers are shocked when I share with them how few households in Canada actually have books in them,” says Cochrane.

As part of the distribution, First Book visits a school or community centre with volunteers and an author or illustrator who reads his or her book to the students. The volunteers also read with the kids.

“We arrive with books and it’s the surprise on their face that they actually get to keep these books. You know it’s not a library book that they have to return or be careful with it’s theirs to keep and take home,” says Cochrane.

He hopes the gift will spark an interest in reading and will strengthen kids’ reading skills and educational opportunities.

Lesley Dunn, executive director of the Dartmouth Learning Network, joined Cochrane along with a team of volunteers to distribute the books.

The News Group in Dartmouth donated 3,000 square feet of its warehouse to the charity to house the books.

The learning network, which works with low-literate or low-skilled adults across the city who are unemployed, will receive 10,000 books from the distribution.

“Where we are located, in Dartmouth North, 40 per cent of the people living here are low-literate, which means they are reading and writing below a Grade 8 level,” says Dunn. “And 7.9 per cent of those families are on income assistance.”

Dunn says partnering with First Book Canada is important because the network is supporting a campaign called the Declaration for the right to Literacy. It builds on the concept that every Canadian should be able to read and understand the laws of the land for themselves.

“If we work towards 100 per cent literacy then we are ensuring that everyone is able to earn a living wage and we are reducing reliance on other social service systems.”

By Hanna Petersen on Nov 14, 2013