The gift of a book 

Deanna Allen 

Two youth-led organizations — Georgia Key Club and The LiTEArary Society — are fostering early literacy, sparking imaginations and encouraging lifelong learning through a statewide literacy initiative that kicked off at Buford Head Start last month. 

On May 19, each child attending the local Head Start program received a book from the “Pete the Cat” series illustrated by artist James Dean and written by Eric Litwin.  

The donation of books was part of Igniting Literacy, a collaboration between Georgia Key Club, the oldest and largest service program for high school students that teaches leadership through service to others, and The LiTEArary Society, the world’s largest entirely youth-led nonprofit with a mission to provide high-quality, new books for children in need. 

“The kids loved the books and were so excited when they found out that they could take them home,” said Rania Zuri, the founder and CEO of The LiTEArary Society who is a student at Stanford University. 

“This collaborative effort highlights the power of youth-led initiatives and demonstrates how young people can create meaningful change in their communities,” Zuri said. “By addressing the critical issue of book deserts and the effect on disadvantaged preschoolers, our partnership with Georgia Key Club aims to give children in Georgia Head Start the opportunity to develop a lifelong love of reading from an early age and receive a brand new book of their very own to take home.”

Zuri said Buford Head Start was chosen as the location to kick off the Igniting Literary project by immediate past District Governor of Georgia Key Club Annamaya Kanu, the visionary behind Igniting Literacy, and during the book donation event, Georgia Key Club leaders spent time engaging with the children. 

“If children develop a love of reading from an early age, the possibilities are endless,” Zuri said. “If you can read, you can become. … reading scores are on the decline (NAEP — most recent Nations Report Card which revealed that 2/3 of all 4th graders cannot read proficiently), but if we come together as a community we can improve access to books and end book deserts for disadvantaged young children everywhere. Our motto at The LiTEArary Society is ‘inspiring future bibliophiles, one book at a time’ and it  really is just that simple. Our historic partnership with Georgia Key Club  exemplifies this spirit and the event at Buford Head Start will serve as a model statewide for future events!”