Philly Nonprofit Raising Money To Raise Reading Levels
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Mayor Kenney took a first-hand look at some of Philadelphia's new classroom libraries in action.
Kenney read to first-graders at Nebinger Elementary at 6th and Carpenter. He was surrounded by books provided by the Right Books campaign, an effort to put grade-level reading libraries into every K to 3rd grade classroom in the district.
It's run by the Fund for Philadelphia Schools, the district's nonprofit fundraising arm.
"Each library has roughly about 500 books," says Fund CEO Donna Frisby-Greenwood. "And they have 26 different reading levels."
She says it's the second year of a three-year drive:
"We have about 57 more elementary schools to go. Those teachers will get trained next summer, and the books will go in the classrooms next fall."
She says the Fund has raised more than $2 million toward its $3.5 million final year goal.