Philadelphia, PA
- Tree House Books is pleased to announce that Mayor Jim Kenney, one of Philadelphia’s greatest literacy champions, will be participating in Philadelphia Literacy Day at Smith Memorial Playground on Saturday, May 12, 2018. He is scheduled to read to a group of children at noon. His participation is among the highlights of a day that promises to be full of fun family activities, and free books for all who attend.
Philadelphia Literacy Day was founded by Tree House Books in 2017 as an annual festival that falls on the Saturday before Mother’s Day. Mayor Kenney officially proclaimed this as a day to “Celebrate our city as a community of readers, writers and thinkers!” The event was created in answer to the alarming statistics surrounding literacy in Philadelphia. It’s designed not only to raise awareness, but to honor the families, volunteers and literacy partners who are actively addressing the fact that so many children in Philadelphia do not have access to books and struggle to read on grade level.
“Philadelphia Literacy Day is about bringing our entire community together to celebrate the hard work of our kids and families, and the many volunteers and literacy organizations working tirelessly to create change in our city,” said June M. Bretz, Executive Director of Tree House Books. “We want to focus on the joy that reading and writing bring to our lives, and celebrate together!”
Tree House Books is proud to be a member of the Read by 4th initiative, a citywide campaign, managed by the Free Library of Philadelphia, bringing together an ever growing coalition of partners to double the number of children reading at grade level by the start of 4th grade. Philadelphia Literacy Day is presented in partnership with Read by 4th and The United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.
As a celebration of literacy in Philadelphia, this event is entirely FREE and open to the public. Highlights include not only Mayor Kenney’s story time, but live music from Two of a Kind, author events, games, crafts, prizes, giveaways, and the largest free Book Market and Book Swap in the area. A satellite celebration will also take place in Center City at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. (See attached Fact Sheet.)
Philadelphia Literacy Day 2018 is being generously sponsored by Running Press/The Hachette Group, Quirk Books, and locally-owned businesses such as Equinox Management and Construction, and Interface Studio Architects. Corporations from surrounding suburbs have also become supporting sponsors, such as The Schell Group, LAMATEK, Inc., and WSFS Bank.
Tree House Books is a non-profit Giving Library and Literacy Center on a mission to grow and sustain a community of readers, writers, and thinkers in Philadelphia. Founded in 2005, our vision is that every child has books to read and every opportunity to pursue their dreams. For more information, visit: www.treehousebooks.org.
