Tomorrow at 11:30am, Councilmember Charles Allen will join DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Public Library Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan to announce the official launch of the city’s Books From Birth early childhood literacy program.

"I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the official launch of Books From Birth. Just over a year ago, I introduced the bill to create this program, together with all of my Council colleagues, and tomorrow marks an important step forward for early childhood literacy in the District,” said Allen. 

“Our support for Books From Birth shows we are serious about confronting the District’s literacy and achievement gaps at their starting point, well before those gaps show up in the classroom. Books are direct building blocks for learning, but children must be exposed to them to use them,” continued Allen.

The Books From Birth program will mail a book to each child in the District every month from birth through age five, while also working to connect families with the full range of DC Public Library resources and educational information, including adult literacy assistance and DCPL’s Sing, Talk, & Read early literacy program. Families may sign up online by visiting http://dclibrary.org/booksfrombirth

“I can’t imagine a better partner than the DC Public Library to implement this program. The Mayor and DCPL have had a great focus on early childhood literacy,” said Allen. “Working together with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Books From Birth will build on the outstanding early literacy work DCPL is already doing and the Imagination Library’s years of experience running successful early literacy programs like this around the world. I have no doubt Books From Birth will prove to be enormously popular with families across the District, but most importantly, will succeed in helping close the city’s achievement gap before it starts.”

Thursday, February 4, 2016
Children’s National Medical Center
Seacrest Atrium
111 Michigan Ave. NE
11:30am  - 12:00pm