Reading Nation Waterfall - Ensuring Equal Access to Books for All Children
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Dr. Anthony Chow presented Reading Nation Waterfall, a $1.4 million federal initiative addressing critical literacy gaps in five tribal communities across Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina. The project uses little free libraries, partnerships with head start programs, and community-driven approaches to increase book access and early childhood reading, responding to a troubling 16-point decline in Native American fourth-grade reading scores since 2000.
Key takeaways
- Native American children in book-poor communities receive approximately 624 books by age five compared to 4,380 for middle-class children, creating a literacy gap before kindergarten entry.
- The project partners with tribal librarians and head start centers to distribute free books and build sustainable literacy networks, recognizing that systemic factors including historical trauma from boarding schools and family instability affect educational engagement.
- Third-grade literacy is a strong predictor of incarceration rates and community wellbeing, making early intervention through accessible books a critical social equity issue.
- Tribal leadership buy-in and locally-trained librarians from within communities are essential for long-term sustainability rather than external one-time interventions.
- The initiative commissions Native American-authored books and records oral histories to ensure children see themselves represented in reading materials and to honor indigenous knowledge systems.
About Anthony ChowDr. Anthony Chow is Director of the School of Information at San Jose State University with expertise in educational psychology, instructional design, and literacy initiatives in underserved communities.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
Meeting for the week of July 18, 2022 - July 24, 2022
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Program: Reading Nation Waterfall - Ensuring Equal Access to Books for All Children
Speaker: Anthony Chow
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powered by TypeformProgram: Reading Nation Waterfall - Ensuring Equal Access to Books for All Children
Speaker: Anthony Chow
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
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This week, our speaker is Dr Anthony Chow. Dr Chow is a full professor and the Director of San Jose State's School of Information, which is a national leader in preparing future information professionals and librarians. His background is in developmental and cognitive psychology, his doctorate is in instructional design and technology, and he has taught and conducted research over a 22-year career in libraries and the communities they serve. He is also the founder and director of Reading Nation Waterfall, a $1.4 million IMLS federal grant focused on increasing access and removing barriers to literacy and libraries for Native American children and families. Dr. Chow is a board of director for the California Library Association (CLA) and Little Free Library (the LFL national organization).
In this talk, you will learn more about Reading Nation Waterfall and their work with five tribal communities in studying and addressing early children's literacy by building literacy networks with tribal Head Start programs, school libraries, and public and/or tribal libraries. One of the core ways this takes place is by ensuring a constant stream of curated books are stocked in strategically placed little free libraries to ensure convenient and free access for children and their caregivers.
You may be motivated to help purchase more books to be disseminated to these Native American children, many of whom do not have the money or caregiver support to purchase or borrow books for them, which means they are growing up without access to books at all. You can follow the links below the video to learn more.
Members and guests, please welcome Dr Anthony Chow!
To learn more, go to:
To learn more about the SJSU School of Information, go to: https://ischool.sjsu.edu
To see the Amazon wishlists for Reading Nation Waterfall, go to: https://myreadingnation.com/donations/
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