On a day when I was complaining about my 2-year-old's pre-occupation with books and her need to have a pile of about 20 in each room of my house and how I had to go around and pick them up all the time  - I innocently/divinely came across this interesting statistic:

In middle-class income homes, there are 15 books per 1 preschool child.

At this point, I was chuckling, thinking, "Yeah, more like ONE HUNDRED and 15!"

Then I read the next part:

In low-income neighborhoods there is 1 book per 300 children.

Wow.

Let's pause for a moment and let that sink in.

That is a staggering statistic - 1 book, per 300 children.

Those numbers troubled me so much, I started calling people at the Down East Partnership for Children to see if anyone could tell me if it was really true. I mean, for that many houses to not have ANY books for the kids to read, that can't be true, right?

It's true.

So I started thinking.

What kind of difference would it make if some of the kids in our community's low income neighborhoods had more books to read/look at, when they were Emmy's age - I'm talking before starting school, or even preschool.

Studies have shown that introduction to reading and books at very early ages CAN make a difference in literacy.

And our local school seem to struggle with literacy.

(Be honest. If you've had kids in the local schools, you've never thought it was a crying shame that there are kids in the 6th grade that CAN'T PASS THE READING EOG TEST? I mean, by 6th grade, shouldn't 100 percent of the kids be able READ?! And have you ever wondered how different your kid's education experience would be if he were surrounded by kids who could pass a basic reading test?)

I started calculating how many bags of 15 books I could put together from Emmy's bookshelves.

Then my newfound friend at Down East Partnership for Children, Jason Rochelle, emailed me some statistics from our 2009 Census that basically say there are about 3,000 children living below the poverty level in Nash and Edgecombe county.

This really is beyond what one person can do - I need some help.

So - as my 12-year said when he offered to help me with this crazy project - "I'm thinking one word, Mama: BOOKDRIVE!"

(It's two words, I know, but that's what he said. See why we need to help the schools?)

My bosses at the Telegram have agreed to support our idea and we will have a box put up in our lobby for anyone who has some books they can donate. The Telegram is also going to let us store, sort and bag the books here. The people at Down East Partnership for Children have agreed to help us sort the books and get them delivered to the kids that need them most.

The bottom line is this: I want all your gently read/worn or new books appropriate for 0-3 year-olds that are laying around your house not being used or properly appreciated by anyone in your family. Board books, picture books, alphabet books, books about numbers, colors, animals, shapes and words, story books and rhyming books.

Put up a box in your office, your child's preschool, your church, your husband's office, your sister's kids' daycare, wherever you can. If you email me at jwhite@rmtelegram.com, I'll email you back a nice sign to put on the box you put out. I also have a digital electronic flyer I can email you to send to your friends.

We're setting a deadline of Dec. 1.

If you have any questions, please email me or call 407-9966.

Let's spread the word!