Square One, a private, non-profit childcare organization based in Springfield, has been around since the 1880s. Originally serving working women that required assistance with childcare, Square One now focuses on providing before and after school care for students from lower-income homes.
Square One serves between 1,200 and 1,500 children, nearly 90 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Square One offers a number of programs for parents and students alike, all of which focus on, “providing opportunities for children to grow strong cognitively, emotionally, socially and physically.”
Square One’s latest project, Book It, is making quite a splash in local communities. Book It provides free books for children in lower-income communities. Children are invited to take one book per day from one of the 20 Book It shelves, which are stocked with books for a variety of different languages, ages and interests. All Book It Books are donated to the project from local communities.
Book It currently has shelves located in Holyoke and Springfield, including Square One locations, in areas that are, “high traffic and low-income,” according to Book It director Kristi Robbins.
Popular book shelf locations include the Department of Transitional Assistance and the women’s prison, where mothers report the free books are a comfort for their children during waiting periods.
Robbins reports that, often times, children will donate the books they finish back to Book It for other children to benefit from.
Book It began a little over a year and a half ago. Since its humble beginnings, the program has given out over 37,000 books to children. Book It distributes over a thousand books a week, though that number will soon increase as Book It expands.
Robbins reports that, according to the 2009 reading MCAS, 64 percent of third grade students in Springfield test non-proficient in reading. Additionally, a nation-wide study showed that the ratio of student to book in middle-income communities is 13 to one, while that ratio in low-income communities drops from 300 to 1. This shortage in books are one of the many reasons students in lower-income communities have a lower reading comprehension level and higher drop-out rate.
“Until third grade, children are learning to read, but after third grade children read to learn. If these students are not proficient in reading by fourth grade, there is a 70 percent chance of drop out, incarceration, or welfare,” said Robbins,
Robbins reports that when she delivers books to Book It’s shelf locations, children that are full of unfocused energy immediately settle down to read their new book.
Square One and Book It recently took a substantial hit when several of their locations were destroyed during the tornado in Springfield last summer. The buildings were damaged past the point of use, and employees were not allowed access after the storm. These buildings were later taken down. Despite the setbacks, Book It is still going strong.
Currently, Robbins is working on promoting awareness of the need for books. Books can be dropped off at Square One or picked up from the donors.
For more information on Square One and the Book It program, visit their website www.sdn.org and click on the mouse at the bottom left corner for Book It. Book It will also be holding several book drives next month, including one at C & S Wholesale in Westfield until May 13 and another at Liberty Mutual in Springfield from May 16 – 22.
Book It director Kristi Robbins can be reached at 413-732-5183 x138 or [email protected]
