You are reading this because at least one special someone in your life – mom, dad, brother, sister, teacher, grandparent, the list goes on – gave you a gift. They invested their time and money in creating a reader.

Admittedly, most of us are in the book blogosphere because we love to read, and while we may not read everything, we can all call ourselves accomplished readers. We recognize millions of words instantly and we have learned the strategies to figure out those we don’t.

As we have all experienced, November and December are consumed by celebration and reflection. We gather to enjoy each other’s company, share some memories, and show our love to those who matter most. At the same time, we tend to look back on the last year to assess where we are in this journey, how we got here, and who we want to be.

Buy Books for the Holidays is an event that not only helps us celebrate a love of reading, it also creates a venue for thinking about how we got here! It is a way of paying forward the investments someone made in us. We are all very fortunate to have had that person (or people) in our life. But what about the person who doesn’t have the mentor or book lover in their life? Don’t they deserve the chance to feel that same passion you do? Maybe you can be the person that helps spark a love of reading in someone else.

One of the pivotal indicators of reading success is the amount of reading material at home. Books, magazines, catalogs, junk mail … it all counts. At a recent kidlitosphere conference, a Reading is Fundamental (RIF) representative noted that there are 25 million children who do not have access to books outside of school. Here are some other staggering statistics:

•  There are currently more than 14 million children living in poverty in the United States. Many children living in poverty do not have books of their own and regular access to quality literature. Access to books is one of the major factors of early educational success for children. 
• In 2003, 30 million adults read “below basic” level. 
  

We need to break the cycle of illiteracy for a multitude of reasons from socio-economic to psychological. Whether you are in a position to donate books, buy books, or donate money to existing projects, you CAN make a huge difference.

In each organization you'll find people (staff and/or volunteers) who dedicate themselves to helping children and adults build the skills they need not only to get through daily life, but to participate in their communities. As you will see, we selected charities that have a broad reach … every charity has local chapters so that you can help readers-in-need in your community. We also included organizations that provide literacy services for children, adults, and families. For each of the next six weeks, I will be profiling at least one literacy charity. In the meantime, we are offering links to their websites.

• Everyone Wins has chapters in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Everybody Wins! chapters are providing trained mentors to help low-income elementary students develop their reading skills.

• First Book gives new books to low-income families with young children throughout the United States and Canada. The organization has a number of entities in place to offer free and low-cost books for the children they serve. There are also volunteer opportunities, with more than 270 Advisory Boards (volunteer groups) throughout the country.

• National Institute for Literacy has information about literacy for all ages, from childhood to adult. It is built to be a "national resource on current, comprehensive literacy research, practice, and policy." Within the NIfL web site you will find America's Literacy Diretory, which lists community-level groups, organized by the audience served.

• ProLiteracy is an international literacy organization, offering services for adults and children throughout the world. Visit the ProLiteracy website, enter your zipcode and find organizations in your area.
  

• Reach Out and Read is a national  nonprofit that supports early literacy. Volunteers work in ROR program offices (e.g. pediatricians) reading books with children and modeling book-sharing techniques for parents.
  

• Read Indeed is the brainchild of nine-year-old Maria Keller, who started this nonprofit in 2007. She is hoping to get one million books into the hands of children by her eighteenth birthday (2018). So far she's got just over ten thousand, passing them on to various charitable organizations.
  

• Reading is Fundamental is America's oldest children's literacy charity. RIF serves children (0 to 8) and families in every state, the District of Columbia, and US territories in programs that operate in 25,000 sites throughout the country.

We are offering these profiles solely as a way of introducing you to the charities and their work. There are lots of other organizations that offer literacy services, and whether you want to donate books, money, or time, they are happy to accept your assistance. I would also like to call your attention to two other resources.

• DonorsChoose.org. On Donors Choose, you can donate money to support a school-based project. Each project includes a specific list of the literacy-based tools teachers need to serve their students. 

• Literacy Organizations on the Literacy & Reading Wiki. There is a page in this wiki dedicated solely to offering links to international, North American, national, and state literacy nonprofits.

Sources for Statistics and image:
National Assessment of Adult Literacy http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp
US Department of Education http://www.education.com/reference/article/children-poverty-access-reading/
Pearson Education http://www.pearsoned.com/pr_2009/091709a.htm
US Census Bureau Report: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/pove-s30.shtml
International Symbol of Information Literacy: http://www.infolitglobal.info/logo/en/home