Reading by 9

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Program Overview	Reading by 9 is a multi-year campaign aimed at helping Southern California kindergarten through third-grade students read at grade level by the age of nine. It was launched by The Times in 1998.
	The program is conducted in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, and is supported by over 50 business, civic, education, media and philanthropic organizations.

The Issue	•	California students rank among the nation's lowest in reading scores.
	•	In California school libraries, the average number of books per child is 12, compared with the national average of 25.
	•	In Southern California's 181 school districts and 2,000 public elementary schools, more than 90 languages are spoken and 70% of the students are limited-English proficient.
	•	In the five-county region:
			–	Two-thirds of the more than 2 million kindergarten through third-grade students are below reading level
			–	Four out of five third-graders cannot read at grade level
	•	The emphasis in grades K-3 is placed on learning to read. After third grade, the emphasis is on reading to learn.
	•	Research shows that children who fail to learn to read by age nine cannot do well in other subjects and rarely catch up.

Program Components	•	Book drives
	•	Literacy resources
	•	Student reader incentive programs
	•	Programs for educators
	•	Public awareness campaigns
	•	Road to Reading Adventure
	•	Library summer reading program
	•	Los Angeles Times commitment
	•	Reading by 9 partners

Website	www.latimes.com/readingby9

Book Drives	•	3.3 million new/gently used books collected and donated to public schools throughout Southern California (annual Holiday Book and Los Angeles Times Festival of Books drives)
	•	Donated books sorted/distributed by county Offices of Education to public schools with low reading scores

Literacy Resources	•	Parent reading guides in English and Spanish containing articles, book lists and tips reach 1.9 million parents annually
	•	Parent reading tip sections in Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean distributed by Asian-language media
	•	Collections of The Times’ Kids’ Reading Room stories published twice yearly
	•	Toll-free customer service line and website respond to thousands of users seeking literacy information

Programs for Educators	•	More than 80 principals participated in a two-year professional development program designed to strengthen their literacy leadership skills and help them develop strategies for improving students’ reading abilities.
	•	More than 12,000 teachers have attended Reading by 9 conferences on reading research and instructional strategies.

Public Awareness Campaigns	•	Annual print and broadcast public awareness campaigns
	•	Public service announcements promoting literacy and parent reading tips produced/broadcast by English- and Spanish-language radio and television stations
	•	Annual print campaign promotes library summer reading programs

Road to Reading Adventure	•	An innovative reading incentive program that encourages students to expand their reading skills while discovering Southern California's rich cultural heritage
	•	Sponsored by Bank of America
	•	Arts, history, nature, science and cultural activities offered by 17 institutions, museums, school and public libraries and other organizations
	•	Includes travel log, reading lists, and visits to participating cultural organizations

Library Summer Reading Program (2004)	•	More than 87,000 children participated in summer reading programs offered by the public libraries in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
	•	More than 300,000 books were read
	•	Independent evaluation concluded these students improved or retained their reading proficiency during school vacation.

Student Reader Incentive Program	•	2 million students in 76,000 public and private elementary schools in five counties participated in Pizza Hut BOOK IT! National Reading Incentive Program (2003-2004)
	•	Number of participating schools increased by 9% in 2004 following Reading by 9’s campaign targeting principals and parents

Los Angeles Times Commitment	•	Editorial/opinion columns
	•	Kids’ Reading Room page published six days each week
	•	Literacy supplements, parent reading guides and special pages in the Sunday Book Review, which also highlights children's books

	•	Millions of dollars' worth of free advertising space donated for public awareness campaigns
	•	Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
	•	Paid time for employee volunteers to tutor or read aloud to students at The Times' eight partner schools
	•	Staff and administrative budget

Reading by 9 Partners	Albertsons/Sav-on Bank of America Foundation BookEnds Borders Books and Music Center Theatre Group California Community Foundation Comcast Enterprise Rent-a-Car Executive Women International Los Angeles Chapter FLEX Solutions Goodwill Industries Hoy Inland Empire Reading Council Kaiser Permanente KTLA, Channel 5 Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles Los Angeles Community College District Los Angeles County Fair Los Angeles County Office of Education Los Angeles Public Library Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Unified School District Love Ride Foundation McCormick & Schmick’s Mervyn’s Music Center Education Division Northrop Grumman Orange County Department of Education Orange County Fair Orange County Reading Association Pizza Hut BOOK IT!® National Reading Incentive Program Public Libraries in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside counties Public Relations Society of America – Los Angeles Chapter Rotary International San Bernardino and Ventura counties San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Scholastic Inc. Screen Actors Guild Foundation Skirball Cultural Center Society of St. Vincent de Paul Stater Bros. Supermarkets The Los Angeles Eye Institute The Salvation Army Univision 34 Los Angeles U.S. XPRESS, INC. Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office

Road to Reading Adventure Partners	Autry Museum of Western Heritage The Bowers/Bowers Kidseum Calico Ghost Town Regional Park California African American Museum California Science Center Discovery Science Center Japanese American National Museum Kimberly Crest House & Gardens Los Angeles Zoo Museum of Latin American Art Museum of Tolerance The Music Center Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Riverside Art Museum Riverside Municipal Museum Ventura County Maritime Museum Ventura County Museum of History & Art
Contact	Marian Shima Director, Signature Community Programs and Events Los Angeles Times 213-237-2399

March 2005

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