Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Collecting Books

For the second year in a row, the Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is working to advance the national initiative in the Dyersville community through the collection of gently used books at local financial institutions.

Throughout the month of February, local financial institutions in the Dyersville Area will be accepting new or gently used children and young adult books. The locations include Citizens State Bank, Community Savings Bank, Dupaco Community Credit Union, DuTrac Community Credit Union, Fidelity Bank & Trust, and MidWestOne Bank. These books will be used throughout the year at local events, pop-up libraries, family literacy nights, and for families to build their home library through the rural food pantry.

Statistics show that 64% of low-income families do not have any books in the home. This month-long effort is to support initiatives to combat the summer slide, which is the tendency for students, especially those from low-income families, to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year. The Dyersville Grade-Level Reading Campaign focuses on School Readiness, Attendance and Summer Learning based on community needs and data available from the community. Last year, over 1,000 books were donated and given out throughout the year to youth in the Dyersville community.