September is here! School is in full swing and we could not be more thrilled to kick off the new school year with a new call to action around reading. This is a unique year for all of us and RIF thought it was the perfect opportunity to launch a new initiative, Rally to Read 100. Today we’re kicking off a six-month series of reading fun as we unite behind educators and families to engage students in reading and inspire young minds with the magic of books.

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Why are we rallying to read? It’s simple really.

• Kids need books now more than ever. After a year of disrupted learning environments and unparalleled learning loss, we want to support schools and families with the books and enrichment resources they need to motivate young readers to drive reading frequency and engagement.
• RIF is celebrating a major milestone: 100 million children served since our founding nearly six decades ago in 1966. We’re so proud but know there’s more work to be done and we are poised to serve the next generation of children.
• 25 million children in the U.S. cannot read at a proficient level. We need to do more to make reading fun and accessible.

At RIF, we believe in the transformative power of reading and the opportunities that literacy provides. That’s why for the next six months, as part of Rally to Read, we’ll be rolling out monthly themes, notable author and illustrator read-alouds, accompanying literacy activities, a pledge to read 100 books, a giveaway of 10,000 books across 100 winning schools and bringing it all together with a national literacy celebration in March 2022 on Read Across America Day.

So, for the next six months, I invite you to rally to read with RIF, and join in the fun in your classroom and at home. Check out www.RallyToRead.org to get started today!

Happy Reading,

Alicia Levi
President & CEO