Bookshare is a free ebook library available to all students in the U.S. who qualify due to literacy-related and print disabilities. You are invited to join a public-private effort to ensure equitable access to Bookshare literacy resources for all eligible students, regardless of their zip code. With support from the U.S. Department of Education, you can be part of a growing coalition of:

• public school educators
• parents
• community leaders
• philanthropists
• local employers
• charter school leaders
• nonprofits
• librarians
• education technologists

The initiative will invest in impacted communities and youth by providing world-class literacy tools, trainings and unlimited free ebooks to students with reading barriers in disadvantaged urban and rural areas.  Among the strategic investments:

1. Free, early online screening to identify individual cases of dyslexia and other literacy-based disabilities.
2. Free Bookshare accounts for schools and qualifying students to improve youth reading, learning, sense of belonging and self-esteem.
3. Jobs for retired special education teachers to train educators, advise school districts, and coach parents on supporting and advocating for their students.
4. Training and internships in literacy outreach activities for current HBCU students and recent HBCU grads.
5. Empowering local literacy-focused efforts by schools and nonprofits.
6. Celebrating community literacy and centering local youth and family voices.

Step 1 toward equitable access to Bookshare: uncover possible cases of dyslexia among students in need.  One way to reduce the burden on schools and families is to offer free online screenings to identify cases of dyslexia and other reading barriers.

• Access to online screenings children can do at home, at a library or at a community after school program.
• Partner with families and educators to prioritize students struggling to learn to read
• App-based screener takes about one hour and is easy to access on any computer, smartphone or tablet
• Reduces burden of time-intensive and costly evaluations to low-income families and schools
• Screening process generates rapid, personalized results and analysis

Together we can put all youth on the path to getting the services they deserve.

Skilled reading uplifts a young person’s self-esteem, helps them stay on track to complete their education, and reduces the risk of school suspensions, dropping out, or getting caught in the criminal justice system.

Research by Dr. Shawn Robinson, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate in Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a member of the Benetech Advisory Council, reveals the importance of culturally relevant literature in motivating African American boys with reading disabilities.

While the need to read is urgent and growing, the facts are sobering:

• More than 79% of Black/African American and more than 77% of Hispanic/Latinx public school 4th and 8th graders are reading below grade level. (Source: Children’s Defense Fund.)
• 1 in 5 students may have an undiagnosed learning disability, of which dyslexia is the most common. (Source: National Center for Learning Disabilities.)
• As many as 50% of incarcerated individuals have dyslexia. (Source: Texas Study by Moody et al (Cited by Senator Bill Cassidy in First Step Act to Reduce Recidivism.)
• The pandemic has hurt low-income students and students with disabilities the most. (Source: The Black Education Research Collective at Teachers College, Columbia University.)

We’d like to hear from you. How have inequities in schooling or learning resources impacted your life? Do you have lived experiences you’d like to share? Help us center the voices of youth and families.  Share your story so that the whole community can learn and be heard.