Celebrating Making A Difference – Assistance League

As Kate Di Camillo said: “Reading should not be presented as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.” With its goal of encouraging reading and literacy through book ownership, Assistance League® of Santa Clarita created Birthday Books, a philanthropic program serving Transitional Kindergarten (TK)-2nd grade students in Santa Clarita Valley Title 1 elementary schools. Member volunteers meet once a month with students who are celebrating their birthdays at these schools. The volunteers assist students in selecting two books, one for their home library and the other to give to their teacher for their classroom library. The lucky students choose from a wide range of new books, specially ordered for their ages and reading interests. If time permits, a story is read aloud to students before they return to class. During the 2024-2025 school year, Assistance League volunteers helped 1280 students celebrate their birthdays and the joy of reading as they provided 502 hours in this activity and discovered their own joy in sharing time with students.
In addition to Birthday Books, two other literacy programs sponsored by the Assistance League brought books to preschoolers at Peachland Elementary School and to all third and fourth graders at Title 1 schools in the Sulphur Springs School District. Approximately 1100 students received books, which were organized and delivered to classrooms by Assistance League volunteers.
Literacy and books are linked, as children’s books help develop a foundation for literacy skills in young children. Along with books, reading aloud to children introduces them to new vocabulary, sentence structures, and ways of expressing ideas while fostering strong language skills. Key findings in 2023 by the National Literacy Trust support our additional investment in books for the home: “Book ownership is associated with reading enjoyment, frequency, and confidence. More than three times as many children and young people, aged 8 to 18, who said they had a book of their own at home, told us they enjoyed reading, compared to those who did not have a book.”
Assistance League is proud to increase the odds for the kids in our area to enjoy reading. Thanks to all of you who donate and those who shop. Because of you, our volunteers celebrate making a difference with students in the Santa Clarita Valley!