In 2005, University of North Florida researchers asked Collier County parents of pre-K children a simple question: “How many books do you have in your home?” Many parents answered, “Can we count the phone book?”
Volunteers who worked with the pre-K children noticed many of them didn’t know how books worked or didn’t even know how to open one.
The question asked of parents was then followed by a research project evaluating the new Early Literacy Learning Model (ELLM) curriculum in Collier County Head Start pre-K classes, with the hope that this curriculum would improve the children’s literacy and knowledge skills. Head Start is a federally funded program that promotes school readiness for low-income children, with 900 pre-K children in Head Start classrooms in Collier County at the time. Joanne Wyss, Mary Politzotto and Nora Kolmer, affiliated with the ELLM program, found that, in the home of those 900 families, there were only 450 books, and most families only had a Bible or a phone book.
This finding was jarring since, at the time, most middle-income families had at least 13 books per child in their home, according to a study from the Handbook of Early Literacy Research. Yet, in Collier County, there were hundreds of children from low-income homes that did not have a single book to read.
This disparity inspired Wyss, Polizzotto and Kolmer to partner with First Book, a global nonprofit that distributes books to children in need, to provide books to children in Collier County Head Start classrooms. The First Book Collier County chapter started with giving over 9,000 books to children in Collier County pre-K programs in just their first year, soon expanding to kindergarten through the second grade. Over the years, that number grew tremendously, and First Book recognized in 2013 that the Collier County chapter was the most successful in the country, distributing 75 to 100 thousand books a year.
In 2015, the organization changed their name to “Books for Collier Kids” because “We weren’t giving ‘first’ books anymore, except to those children in pre-K,” said Chair Sallie Williams.
After this name change, Williams said the organization was “off to the races,” becoming their own foundation.
Now, 20 years after that simple question that started it all, Books for Collier Kids is celebrating giving over 2 million new books to children in Collier County.
“All children, regardless of economic status, need books in their hands, and they need to be reading those books from an early age,” said Volunteer Coordinator Beth Thompson, formally the school district’s chief instructional officer.
Up until 2020, the organization, like First Book, only gave books to Title I schools, where 40% or more of the students are from low-income families. However, after the 2020 pandemic, the organization decided to expand slowly, adding two or three elementary schools each year to its program. It now provides books to over 20 local agencies and to all 33 Collier County public elementary schools, giving a brand-new book to every child from pre-K to second grade each month.
These books are usually hardcover and age- and curriculum-appropriate, with each grade assigned a different book. The books are often acclaimed works written by award-winning authors such as Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle and Mary Pope Osbourne. Each book also comes with a name plate reading “This book belongs to…” so that the students can claim ownership of their brand-new book.
“We feel that ownership is a big component,” shared Polizzotto, the book distribution chair. “There was a little girl in kindergarten…her teacher noticed her backpack was getting heavy. The young girl carried the books back and forth every day to school, because she just had to have them with her.”
“For many of the children, it’ll be the first time they’ve ever received anything new and anything that was just theirs,” said Williams.
Pollizzotto, a retired reading teacher with a Ph.D. in education, selects books for each grade based on age appropriateness and readability, ensuring they align with state legislation and school district guidelines. She ensures the books reflect the diversity of the community, as 70% of Collier County Public Schools’ (CCPS) students are minorities. Polizzotto also considers the schools’ curriculum, selecting books that pair well with science units. They are then reviewed by administrators in the CCPS language arts department before they are purchased and distributed. The organization runs entirely off of donations, and buys the books for a fraction of the retail price through First Book Marketplace.
“Eighty-nine to 90 cents of every dollar goes to the purchase of books,” said Williams.
“Because we don’t have a staff, we don’t have an office, we don’t pay rent — we are extremely efficient and effective as far as our donations are concerned.”
This efficiency is also due to the 13 volunteer board members that run the organization and many more that run operations and sort the books, many of them retired teachers.
“It’s that dedication of the volunteers… they’re so excited,” said Thompson, who leads the book sorts. “You can hear them going, ‘Oh look at this book!’ and ‘Oh my goodness, they’re going to love this!’”
Furthermore, the organization saves money on transportation. Once the books arrive, they are stored in the school district warehouse and await sorting day, when Thompson and a group of volunteers sort through 15,000 books that will be distributed in the next two months. After the sorting, the books are loaded onto the same trucks distributing school supplies and are delivered to the schools.
Teachers also receive copies for their classroom libraries, as well as a book schedule in advance so they can incorporate the books into their lesson plans. Once they have the book of the month, the teacher often reads it to the children so that when they get their book, “even the real tiny ones who cannot read yet have memorized it,” said Williams, and can share it at home to younger siblings or their family.
“When books are around, kids will pick them up and read them,” said Dr. Leslie Ricciardelli, Collier County Public Schools superintendent. She commented on how valuable books are to children’s learning development, saying it builds their vocabulary and comprehension skills, advances their knowledge and expands their horizons.
“It’s so much more than a data point of a (reading) test. You give a little kid a book, they’ll trace and color the pictures — they’ll imagine themselves there. To me, that’s invaluable,” said Ricciardelli. “The opportunities this provides for kids, is just something that we could never do without the support of Books for Collier Kids.”
Williams, Thompson and Polizzotto all thanked their donors, who enable them to keep supplying brand new books to kids each year. “We’re very lucky because there’s a lot of loyal donors. It’s a great community to be able to work in… you’re not sweating, ‘Can I keep going for another year?’” said Polizzotto.
The organization also distributed 20,000 books this summer to 25 agencies to combat “summer slide,” a decline in reading and math knowledge children experience over summer break, which disproportionately affects low-income families. Each child in these agencies’ summer programs received two to three books to take home.
Books for Collier Kids will also always provide books to new schools that open in Collier County, such as Bear Creek Elementary, which opens in August and the elementary school in Ave Maria, which will open in 2026. Thanks to the organization, children who attend school in Collier County from pre-K to second grade will receive a total of 44 books.
Looking forward, the organization hopes to provide books to children starting at birth. The nonprofit applied for a grant to the Collier County Community Foundation, where they are working with Christ Child Society of Naples and NCH North Hospital to provide three or four books to moms with newborn babies.
Now, two decades and two million books later, Collier County parents no longer have to ask if the phone book counts, for their children’s shelves are filled with books of their own.
Polizzotto said, “A child’s response to having a book to take home and keep for the first time is something that — anybody who’s seen it — will never forget.”
for Florida Weekly (read the article on their website here)
