Children who grow up in homes with at least 20 books get three years more schooling than children in bookless homes (Evans et al., 2010). Kids who read for 20 minutes every day are exposed to 1.8 million words a year. By middle school, they have read over 800 hours and will likely score 90% better than their peers.

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Approximately 34% of children in kindergarten through grade 11 in New Mexico can read at or above their grade level, which implies that 66% of them need to improve their reading skills. This indicates that these children require more access to books and reading opportunities outside of school. BOOKKIDS is designed to provide free books to these children so that they can practice their reading skills during their out-of-school hours.