Atlanta Housing (AH) has joined Book Rich Environments in celebrating its two millionth book distributed to public housing communities. Since 2020, Atlanta Housing has been an active partner in the youth literacy program created by the National Book Foundation in collaboration with HUD, the National Center for Families Learning, the Urban Libraries Council, and the U.S. Department of Education.
The Atlanta branch of the Book Rich Environments program is a collaboration between AH, Fulton County Library Systems, and the John Hope Envision Center. This partnership helps families build home libraries and fosters a lifelong love of reading. Thanks to Atlanta Housing’s persistent efforts, nearly 15,000 youth have received brand-new books at our resident events and in our Roosevelt Hall library and headquarters’ lobby.
To celebrate this milestone perfectly, AH hosted a 3-day reading commitment supporting the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Summer Reading Program and the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students. Atlanta Housing staff read Bina’s Harvest to 25 Pre-K students at the Arthur Blank Family YMCA and delivered 125 books to The Villages at Carver Family YMCA kindergarten summer camp. In the following two days, our team read to two more Pre-K classrooms and closed out the activities with a BRE distribution of 300+ books.
The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club collaborates with Atlanta-based writers and illustrators commissioned by the Alliance Theatre to create a unique reading for Atlanta’s children. The books provide instructions to guide parents in encouraging communication and active learning at home while also combating the “summer brain drain.” AH has now merged the Mayor’s program with its BRE book giveaways for greater impact.
Recently, AH’s expansion of the Book Rich Environments partnership has also allowed seniors raising grandchildren to receive youth books. Books are now distributed at senior events, including health and wellness fairs, senior farmers markets, the Mayor’s Ageless Expo, and the agency’s Juneteenth Celebration. AH has distributed more than 23,000 books to date.
Atlanta Housing is dedicated to providing affordable housing as a stabilizing force for families. We are equally committed to inspiring our young scholars’ dreams, goals, and imaginations through access to books and educational resources.