Hamilton County Commissioner Warren Mackey is convinced there’s more than one compelling reason elementary school children need to be good readers.
“There’s a competitive element to it,” he said. If one student reads well, “it tends to raise the bar for other students.”
Mr. Mackey and Commissioner Greg Beck recently contributed $2,500 apiece from their discretionary funds to help pay for four new neighborhood reading centers, which are a collaboration among the neighborhoods, the United Way of Greater Chattanooga’s Project Ready for School and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.
The new reading centers, bringing the total in the city to 24, opened recently at Avondale Recreation Center, Eastdale Recreation Center, Harriet Tubman Development Site and Washington Hills Recreation Center.
“As an educator, I appreciate the need of students to read and the sooner the better,” said Dr. Mackey. “My goal is to strengthen the public school system.” While the reading centers are not in public schools, he said, the students they serve are enrolled in those schools.
The goal of the reading centers, according to officials at United Way, which helps fund the purchase of books, is to ease the financial burden on parents and make age-appropriate books and books on the Hamilton County Schools summer readings lists accessible for children within walking distance of the centers.
Reading also helps students retain the knowledge they gained the previous academic year, according to Lu Lewis, assistant director of United Way’s Project Ready for School.
“The research is very profound,” she said. “It’s universally accepted. If you do not read over the summer, you lose up to two months (of knowledge). If you read, you maintain or exceed what you’ve learned.”
The Avondale and Eastdale reading centers will serve both preschool, elementary and middle-school students, while the Harriet Tubman Development and Washington Hills centers are geared toward preschool and elementary students.
The location of the new centers was determined by a committee of the city’s Department of Education, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Lewis said.
Yashika Ward, community manager of the Harriet Tubman Development, said she and other residents had wanted to develop educational programming involving children, so the reading center was a perfect fit.
“Iit all meshed together. We had the space, and (the United Way) was supplying the (book) donations through the commissioners and other donors. It’s a good opportunity for Tubman,” she said.
In 2009, 1,839 children visited 19 reading centers, according to Mrs. Lewis.
The reading centers have United Way-trained volunteer workers, set their own hours and determine whether books can be checked out or must be read there. Some are open only in the summer, but most are open all year, she said.
Several centers offer literature circles for middle and high school students, a concept which promotes reading comprehension. Groups of eight to 10 students read and discuss the same book with a trained volunteer.
While Mr. Mackey and Mr. Beck funded the startup of the four new centers, the United Way’s Project Ready for School annually purchases about $6,500 worth of books on summer reading lists per year for the centers, according to Ms. Lewis.
“Reading is the gateway to a successful life,” she said.
READING CENTERS
All neighborhood reading centers set their own hours of operation and book lending terms.
* Avondale Recreation Center, 1305 Dodson Ave., 697-1277.
* Boys & Girls Club, 2310 Duncan Ave., 629-0008.
* Brainerd Recreation Center (Joe Johnson Resource Reading Center), 1010 N. Moore Road, 425-3600.
* Children’s Home Chambliss Shelter, 315 Gillespie Road, 698-2456.
* Bushtown-Carver Recreation Center (Children’s Reading Center), 600 N. Orchard Knob Ave., 697-1280.
* East Ridge Community Center/East Ridge Library, 1517 Tombras Ave., 867-6406.
* Community Outreach Development (New Anointing Church of God), 420 N. Holly St., 284-1166.
* Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St., 756-2738.
* Eastdale Recreation Center, 1312 Moss Drive, 697-1289.
* East Lake Courts Center (Downtown Vineyard), 2470 Sixth Ave., 255-6508.
* East Lake Salvation Army, 2140 E. 28th St., 240-8011.
* Glenwood Recreation Center (Glenwood Neighborhood Reading Center), 697-1284.
* Harriett Tubman Development Site, 2006 N. Hawthorne St., 752-4860.
* John A. Patten Recreation Center, 3202 Kelly’s Ferry Road, 825-5955.
* Northside Neighborhood House Reading Center, 211 Minor St., 267-2217.
* Oak Grove Neighborhood Reading Center (Resurrected Baptist Church), 2230 E. 18th St., 698-8086.
* Ooltewah High School ROTC, 6123 Mountain View Road, 238-5682.
* Piney Woods/Alton Park Family Resources, 701 Hooker Road, 825-7361.
* Shepherd Recreation Center (Rosetta Kirby Library), 2124 E. Shepherd Road, 757-5447.
* South Chattanooga Recreation Center, 1151 W. 40th St., 425-3550.
* St. Andrew’s Center, 1918 Union Ave., 635-8747.
* St. Elmo Neighborhood Reading Center (Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church), 4407 Hightop Road, 304-0079.
* Washington Hills Recreation Center, 4628 Oakwood Drive, 855-2679.
* Westside Recreation Center, 1201 Poplar St., 756-3541.