Singer Taylor Swift has partnered with Scholastic to donate 25,000 books to New York City schools in need of additional resources, according to Education World.
In order to encourage students to take part in independent reading, 25 of NYC’s schools will receive 1,000 books respectively.
This effort is one of several from the pop culture icon as she supports the Scholastic Possible Fund’s initiative, “Open a Word of Possible.”
President of Scholastic Education, Greg Worrell said, “Scholastic is honored to join with Taylor Swift who continues to show a passion for literacy and a commitment to spreading the message of how influential books can be in a child’s life.”
Swift helped make a webcast for Scholastic’s site in October 2014 that demonstrated “how books, reading and writing have influenced her and opened her world.” The webcast has been viewed from students around the country over 4.5 million times.
The effort comes following the results of a survey that examined the reading diets of 9.8 million U.S. students. The annual survey found that students who read 15 minutes or more per day with comprehension are more likely to meet college and career readiness benchmarks – even those who are struggling students, English learners or on free/reduced lunch.
The survey also found that habitual reading has the capability to significantly close the achievement gap in schools.
The most recent Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report found that “having a selection of texts for independent reading can be a powerful tool to encourage kids to pick up a book. The same report revealed that nine in ten kids agree their favorite books – and the ones they are most likely to finish – are ones they pick out themselves,” said Scholastic in a statement.
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