The Baltimore Reads program celebrates 20 years of bringing literacy classes to adults in Baltimore

The Baltimore Reads program recently celebrated twenty years of success as an extremely admirable foundation that offers literacy classes to adults throughout Baltimore who are looking to obtain the basic reading, writing, mathematics and employment skills necessary to further their lives.

Staggering Baltimore statistics demonstrate the call for foundations such as the Baltimore Reads program. In Baltimore City, 31% of residents lack a high school diploma and in some neighborhoods the school drop-out rate is 50%. The Baltimore Reads GED program offers these adults a course that prepares them with the skill necessary to pass the GED exam and obtain a high school diploma.

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) program is designed to teach basic literacy skills, such as reading and mathematics, while the Kurt Schmoke Reading program works to further improve the proficiency of one's reading skills. Similarly, English as a Second Language classes are available and embraced by the diverse Baltimore community.

The different educational programs of Baltimore Reads help, on average, 300 adults each year. This number though, is rapidly growing as a result of their decision to offer classes and tutoring in different locations throughout Baltimore. The implementation of off sight classes and tutoring ensures that the programs are accessible to different communities. Baltimore Reads is quickly finding just how interested the people of Baltimore actually are about their programs.

"As we get out into these various different branches we are finding out that the communities in which the branches are located in are very receptive, and we actually have a waiting list for people who come in and want to take classes," said Mark Feiring, director of the Baltimore Reads Book Bank.

The newest off sight location was opened recently in Canton, where the large Hispanic population embraced the new ESL program offered by Baltimore Reads.

In addition to the adult education programs, the foundation has a local Book Bank that was started in 1992 and has distributed close to 1.3 million free books throughout Baltimore.

The Book Bank collects children's books and redistributes the books to teachers, religious organizations, community groups, as well as individuals and families that are free to walk in and take as many books as they like based on the belief that every child should have a book if they want one.

"In Baltimore city, only one in 300 kids has a book in their home," said Feiring. "If there is a book in the home, the child is more apt to want to learn and actually read and study hard and do better in school. That's just a proven fact so that's why we're here, to get those books into those homes, so they have something there to encourage them to want to learn."

Each year, on the first Saturday of May, Baltimore Reads holds its annual Books for Kids Day book drive which brings in a large amount of the books at the Book Bank; however, donations from the community at large play the most influential role in the success of the Book Bank.

Wachovia Bank collected close to 5,000 books that it donated to the Book Bank and Borders recently donated 34 cases of books that people bought and immediately donated to the Book Bank increasing the number of books in the Book Bank to close to 50,000. A partnership between Baltimore Reads and Borders is currently in the works in the hopes of continuing the donation of books to the Book Bank.

Donald Vincent, a senior here at Loyola, has been working at the Baltimore Reads Book Bank since October 2009..

"Me and the poetry club got to go to an elementary school and drop off books and read poetry to the kids. That was really fun because they really enjoyed it and we got to see how much they like reading. I guess I feel like every time I see a kid or we give away books it's like we're doing it for a cause," said Vincent.

Gina Moffa, sophomore and member of the poetry club, accompanied Donald when delivery books to the kids.

"The program is really inspiring and I had a great time with the kids. Seeing them so excited to read showed me how important and influential programs like Baltimore Reads and the Book Bank can be," said Moffa.

Baltimore Reads and the Book Bank are always looking for volunteers and community involvement. Many people take the ability to read for granted. The Baltimore Reads Program and Book Bank have the power to pass on this ability

"Overall I think Baltimore reads is a great program it just needs more awareness from the public and I think we as a public and a Jesuit institution can do more to help Baltimore Reads by basically just coming down and volunteering getting the word of mouth out about the program," Vincent said.