Start Reading Now

WHAT WE DO: At Start Reading Now, we host and fund book fairs to help close the achievement gap and encourage summer reading for kids in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. Our book fairs help kids build their own library of 30 books, over three years - and it only costs $50 per year, per student. In total, we've served about 25,000 kids at public schools across Minneapolis. We're on track to serve 5,000 more students in 2024 and are planning to expand to more districts. WHY WE DO IT: Kids from low-income communities, on average, have very few books at home. If you don't have books at home, you don't read. If you don't read, you fall behind in school. Once you fall behind, you will struggle to catch up, potentially for the rest of your life. Helping kids add new books to their home libraries is a simple, low-cost and effective solution. HOW WE DO IT: In order to get right amount of books to the right kids at the right time, we work with top-notch partners with expertise in education and book fairs. We also rely on amazing volunteers and donors who make our book fairs possible.