Read Seed

Read Seed, Inc is an organization based in Durham, North Carolina, founded in 2001 by A. Banks, that seeks to increase childhood literacy among the city's at-risk population. Its mission states, "Gifting new, age-appropriate books to our children, they are our future, they are our precious present." Their mission statement and purpose is based on strong support in educational psychology literature that identifies the availability of books and other forms of print in the home as one of the most important factors contributing to successful development of conventional reading skills and academic success.

The organization works with North Carolina Housing Authority managers, who oversee public housing to idenify and locate every child up to seven years-old. Read Seed then delivers books to every eligible child's home several times a year. Read Seed partners with numerous corporate and nonprofit organizations in Durham such as: Chapel Hill Housing Department, Durham Housing Authority, Roxboro Housing Authority, the local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, Triangle Community Foundation, Triangle United Way Donor Choice Program, Duke University (Project BUILD), Volunteer Center of Durham, and the local Barnes & Noble. The program is supported by numerous volunteers.

Programs Offered

Parent & Child Reading Incentive Project

Parents and children earn points for hours of joint-book reading that can be used to purchase gifts. Joint-book reading has many benefits for the child in terms of developing print awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, and letter knowledge.

Free Book Any Day

Any child in preschool to high school can visit the Read Seed office during the week to pick up one gently used book a week.

torytime Thursdays

Small groups can come to the Read Seed office to be read a storybook by one of the Read Seed staff members.

Reading Proficiency Services

Reading tutors are available for children who are at-risk of failing.

For More Information

[http://readseed.org/index.shtml] - Official Website