The Joy of Reading : Volunteers Reach Kids Early With Simple Message: Books Can Be Fun : BRENDA GOTTFRIED and LOIS MILLER

What we do at Reading Is Fundamental is to let children know that even if they can’t read at grade level, they can still enjoy books. We’re trying to a develop lifelong enjoyment of reading--and let kids know reading doesn’t have to be related to school.

What we teach in school may not give them enough practice, it may not develop fluency, it may not develop the desire to read. That has to come as much from the home as from the school.

Our philosophy at RIF is to reach children as early as possible to make reading fun. We distribute free books to each site, including two homeless shelters. Each child gets to choose three books to take home to start their own mini-library.

The books are not for school and that’s important, because many children who are turned off to reading relate it to a skill. If their skills are not up to par, then they don’t enjoy what they’re doing. Along with the books they select by themselves (including such titles as “Charlotte’s Web,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “A Chair for My Mother”), they get a bookplate and bookmark.

We’re always eager to get volunteers because we think it has a greater effect on children if somebody from outside the school is interested enough to come and talk to them about reading. Children expect the teacher to tell them to read. Volunteers come from all over Los Angeles County.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to be an RIF volunteer. We are seeking volunteers now for special projects and our regular RIF programs. All but two of the more than 50 volunteers are women, and we would like to have more male volunteers.

At Hoover Elementary they have 14 classes of second-graders. That Downtown school has everything: all economic levels, every ethnicity and language. We have two volunteers for Hoover, and sometimes we take our new volunteers there as trainees so they can help out while they’re getting trained. Anything they’re going to see as a volunteer with RIF, they’ll probably see it there.

Hoover is also one of the places that treat you like a star.

The teachers and the principals that RIF visits say the program really makes a difference. Unfortunately, we have a lot more requests than we can actually service.

Manchester Avenue School, at Manchester and Hoover, is one of the largest L.A. city schools. (Gottfried volunteered there before she became president.) The kids are already motivated when you arrive. They help set up all the books on display, then the RIF volunteer selects a story to read.

When you’re reading a book, you can see the children who are less involved, and you call on them first to select a book. That makes them feel special. It helps to have some experience with young children, but you don’t have to be a teacher.

The recession hasn’t hit us this year as hard as other nonprofits because literacy is a high priority for many corporations that are trying to make a difference in the community. We get grants from Weingart, Arco, Nestle--and even though that funding has been ongoing, we have noticed that we might not be funded at the same level next year. We try to keep costs down--by keeping each book under $2.

We get an appropriation every year that is administered by National RIF. If we only used the $37,000 that we get from National RIF--and we have to raise one-third more, which brings it up to $50,000--that would serve approximately 8,000 children, but we’re actually serving 21,000 this year.

We get additional funding through contributions, direct-mail solicitations and with the help of a fund-raising consultant.

We’re also trying to work out an affiliation with KCET-TV Channel 28’s “Storytime,” a new program that promotes reading for fun. It will give them credibility and give us more exposure.

Children don’t have the same access to books at schools that they used to. Clerks have replaced librarians, and a clerk can never do for teachers and children what a trained librarian can do.

In children’s books you look for all the good things a librarian traditionally looks for in any book--a good story, good illustrations, not too heavy on words per page for the younger kids.

We try to select books children can enjoy without adult supervision. That doesn’t necessarily mean they can read it either. If they select it because of the title or the colors or whatever, that’s fine. We try to get ethnic diversity in the books we select but we need more. We could always use more titles that reflect our diverse society.

It’s a good feeling when you see how excited the children get about the program and you are helping to promote the joy of reading. Reading is fundamental.