Paly student’s nonprofit promoting Summer Reading during lockdown

With the COVID-19 lockdown in place, school libraries, an important source of books for students, are closed. To help combat this issue, Palo Alto based Reading Good, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has distributed hundreds of books to East Palo Alto students. The importance of the program is highlighted by parents’ reactions. One mother of two quoted at Brentwood Elementary school earlier in July, “The city has given us access to the digital library, but my kids don't want to use that. Having a book in hand is perfect! Now, I can read to my kids”.

Founded and run by Gaurav Tyagi, a rising senior at Palo Alto high school, Reading Good started distributing books directly to students in early June. Gaurav reached out to the Ravenswood City School District with a proposal to distribute books alongside free meal pickup offered at district school sites. It was a perfect opportunity to connect with students and provide them relevant books. The school district agreed and since then, Reading Good has distributed books multiple times at all 5 elementary schools in East Palo Alto.

When founded in 2019, Reading Good had a different strategy - work directly with schools and provide interesting books to school libraries to get students interested in reading. While doing an advanced research project on educational inequality in low income communities, Gaurav interviewed several teachers from East Palo Alto schools. That’s when he identified the lack of interesting books as one of the biggest pain points for the teachers in these schools, which led him to launch this nonprofit.

Although schools have thousands of books, most aren’t being checked out because kids just aren’t interested in those. Reading Good started fixing this problem by working with schools librarians to identify and provide specific books that students find interesting to read. The strategy worked well, and libraries saw an increased usage of books. This model was effective, but in March, when the COVID-19 lockdown began, school libraries closed and Gaurav was compelled to shift his strategy so thee students continue to have access to good books.

With lockdown still in effect until further notice, Reading Good plans to continue distributing books throughout the summer and into fall. Although the lockdown hasn’t been easy for many families, Reading Good hopes to help alleviate the problem by continuing to supply books and keep students intellectually challenged. Once the lockdown comes to an end, Gaurav hopes to resume the original strategy of his program and expand further to Redwood City as well. Gaurav says that, “With two schools closing in East Palo Alto, we know that the rest of the libraries are going to have a fresh supply of books, but there are many other schools in nearby areas who won’t get that kind of supply. So we’re working to expand our program and help other schools that may be in need”.

For more information about Reading Good, you can visit their website at www.ReadingGood.org or their Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/ReadingGood.O.... During these difficult times, everyone can make a difference in their own ways. Reading Good recommends that if you are financially able, find a cause and organization that resonate with you and help it create an impact in your community.