Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental
Formation November 3, 1966 (1966-11-03)[1][2]
Founder Margaret McNamara[1]
52-0976257[3]
Legal status 501(c)(3)[4]
Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S.
President & CEO
 Alicia Levi [5][4]
Website www.rif.org


Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is the largest non-profit children's literacy organization in the United States. RIF is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content and resources to make an impact, and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success. RIF is the leading champion for children’s literacy, empowering millions of children to read, learn, and grow.

History

While reading to children at a school in Washington, D.C. Margaret McNamara, wife of the United States Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, was surprised to learn that many of the students did not have any books of their own. That experience in 1966 led to the formation of Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a nonprofit children's literacy organization dedicated to making reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. In the first year, 41,000 D.C. school children received 200,000 books. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation in 1967, the RIF bookmobile was launched, expanding reach and impact outside of the classroom. Following the success RIF had in Washington, the Ford Foundation increased RIF's grant to $285,000 in August 1968, enabling RIF to launch ten model programs across the country. From these early beginnings, RIF evolved into a national motivating force for literacy.

In 2011, Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed a bill that cut all federal funding for RIF.[6] In 2015, RIF released the results of Read for Success, a two-year research study funded by a grant from the Department of Education. Read for Success is centered around motivating children to read by providing access to high-quality classroom book collections, summer books for students to choose and own, enriching STEAM-themed classroom activities, professional development for teachers and parent engagement.

To date, RIF has given 412 million books to more than 40 million children.[7]

Programs

RIF has 400,000 volunteers across all U.S. states and territories provide 4.5 million children with 15 million books and a growing number of literacy resources each year.[8][9] RIF's largest priority is providing books and companion literacy resources for underprivileged children from birth to age 10.[10]

RIF's flagship program is Books for Ownership (formerly known as the National Book Program), which also supplies children with free paperback books. By 1989 the RIF had distributed 100 million books.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Saxon, Wolfgang (February 4, 1981). "MARGARET MCNAMARA, 65, IS DEAD; BEGAN CHILDREN'S READING PROGRAM". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Lamb, Brian. "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam". C-SPAN.
  3. ↑ "Reading is Fundamental Inc". Nonprofit Explorer. Pro Publica Inc. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 "RIF Charity Navigator Profile". Charity Navigator.
  5. ↑ "RIF Guidestar Profile". Guidestar.
  6. ↑ The source explains "More than a dozen education programs—including high-profile efforts focused on literacy, teaching, and learning—face the prospect of a permanent federal funding loss after they were chopped from a stopgap spending measure signed into law by President Barack Obama last week. The temporary spending law, intended to keep the government running until March 18 while Democrats and Republicans try to hash out a deal for the rest of the fiscal year, finances most federal programs at fiscal year 2010 levels. But education programs such as Even Start, Striving Readers, and the privately organized Teach For America, ended up taking dramatic hits after Republican leaders insisted on cuts even in the temporary spending bill. The measure slashes nearly $750 million from the U.S Department of Education’s most recent overall discretionary budget of $46.6 billion, excluding Pell Grant funding. Literacy programs bore the brunt. The funding for Striving Readers, which was financed at $250 million, was eliminated. The Even Start family-literacy effort lost its $67 million appropriation.".
  7. ↑ http://www.rif.org/what-we-offer/books-for-ownership/
  8. ↑ http://readingisfundamental.org/us/about-rif.htm
  9. ↑ Lahey, Jessica. "Reading Is Fundamental Combats 'Summer Slide'". Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  10. ↑ http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4390
  11. ↑ "Books and socks paired up for kids". The Kokomo Tribune. August 15, 1989. p. 11.
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