MADISON––Sometimes a great idea doggedly niggles until a healthy dose of empathy launches it. The brainchild of Rowan Childs, Executive Director of the Madison Reading Project (MRP), evolved while she ruminated on childhood: hers, her children’s, and by extension, the children of others.
“I always considered books treasure,” Childs said. “We moved a lot when I was a child, and no matter where we went, I had my books.”
But what, she wondered, happened to children who don’t have books in the home or can’t get to a library? Books shouldn’t be a luxury, Childs thought.Could I provide free home libraries for others? In this area, was there even a need?
To learn how community literacy fared, Childs met with Will Green at the Salvation Army.
That same week, the Race to Equity Report was published in Madison, revealing discrepancies in reading rates according to socioeconomic factors.
