Ready to Read and Reading for Success

SB 5519 & HB 2479

Ready to Read and Reading for Success

OLA’s Position

The Oregon Library Association supports SB 5519, the State Library budget that includes funding for the Ready to Read Grant Program to local libraries, and HB 2479, the bill that expands that program to include 15-17 year olds and changes its name to Reading For Success.

The Oregon Library Association also strongly supports increased funding of the Ready to Read Grant Program to $1 per child to help support public library efforts to advance early childhood literacy, engage adolescents in reading activities, and support summer reading programs. The increase over the Governor’s Budget would be less than $400,000 for the biennium.

Ready to Read/Reading for Success Grant Program

In 1993, the Legislature created the Ready to Read Grant Program to improve library services to children. Since then, Oregon’s public libraries have used Ready to Read grants to help children learn to read and to maintain their literacy skills as they grow.

This program is successful.

·  In 2014, children and teens checked out over 21 million items from Oregon’s public libraries.

·  Attendance at literacy-based activities for children and teens continues to increase - 1,240,611 this past year.

·  Summer reading participation has almost doubled to 207,449 since the grant program started.

·  All 131 eligible public libraries in Oregon applied for and were awarded a grant.

The evidence is clear that children who start school reading or ready to read will be more successful in school. Oregon’s library community is committed to helping Oregon’s children discover the joy of reading and the power of literacy. Research shows that about two-thirds of the achievement gap can be attributed to unequal access to summer enrichment programs such as library reading programs. Funding the Ready to Read Grant Program as $1 per child, with minimum grants of $1,200, would ensure public libraries to address this need for all children from kindergarten through age 17.

The Ready to Read Grants are the only State General Fund program directly supporting Oregon’s public libraries. The cost of the program at $1 per child would be $1.805 million. Current funding is equivalent to 94¢ per child and will drop to 85¢ if expanded to 0-17 at currently proposed levels. In 2014, each $1 of state funds leveraged $1.87 in local funds.

For more information:

·  Nan Heim, 503-703-9358,

·  Amy Goodall, 503-508-8512,

·  Janet Webster, OLA Legislation Committee, 541-265-6919,

Talking Points

SB 5519 & HB 2479

Ready to Read and Reading for Success

·  SB 5519 is the State Library’s budget that includes the Ready to Read Grant Program funding.

·  HB 2479 is the bill that:

o  Changes the names of Ready to Read to Reading for Success;

o  Expands the ages covered from 0-14 to 0-17;

o  Increases the minimum grant size to $1200 from $1000.

o  Includes funding for the increases - $140,000 for the biennium.

·  The Ready to Read/Reading for Success program works:

o  Attendance at programs increased.

o  Kids check out materials – 21,000,000 items in 2014.

o  Over 200,000 kids participated in Summer Reading Programs in 2014.

o  Every dollar in grant money leveraged $1.87 in local funds.

·  All 131 eligible public libraries applied for and received grants in 2014.

·  Funding should be at $1 per child. It was 94¢ in 2014.

·  Increasing funding to $1 per child would cost $400,000 for the biennium.