Books for Ownership (formerly National Book Program)

Books for Ownership is a long-standing program that provides, at no cost, new books to low-income children through 3 book distributions per academic year at each participating school. During the 2008-2009 academic year, RIF in Chicago is committed to serving more than 60,000 children and distributing 199,000 books in our 82 participating schools.

Project Open Book

RIF in Chicago established Project Open Book to provide books to all children in the waiting rooms at Children’s Memorial Hospital, including patients, siblings, family, and friends, all of whom spend many hours in clinics dealing with life-threatening or chronic illness. In 2007 we expanded Project Open Book to serve children at Great Lakes Naval Base Pediatric Clinic, where we are able to reach local military children and families, many of whom are of low-income status in addition to coping with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Englewood Project

Of the 16 elementary schools in Englewood, 14 have been placed on Academic Watch or Warning for failing to meet the No Child Left Behind Standards. We address the literacy needs of children in Chicago’s impoverished Englewood neighborhood by expanding our Books for Ownership program to all Englewood elementary schools and adding parent education and classroom library resources to strengthen the impact of the literacy programs within the schools.

Adolescents-At-Risk

Adolescents-At-Risk specifically targets Chicago’s most at-risk youth, mostly high school age, through partnerships with Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, Uhlich Academy, UCAN Residential Treatment Center, York Alternative High School in the Cook County Jail, and Nancy Jefferson and Montifiore alternative middle schools. We expanded Books for Ownership to provide 3 book distributions per academic year to the youth at these facilities.

Young Women’s Zine Project

The focus of the Chicago Southside Zine program is to empower young women through literacy, becoming part of a group that allows them to assume leadership roles and work collaboratively while expressing themselves through writing and reading.