Around 1 in 5 children do not own a single book of their own. The reason is often, but not always poverty. Book ownership has been shown to have a direct positive impact on a child’s mental health, and by the age of 11 there is a 12 month language development gap between children from homes with plenty of books and those with very few.
With education, mental health and sustainability being such important topics here at the Students Association, we decided to use the occasion to collect books for disadvantaged children. The Children’s Book Project collect pre-loved children’s books and redistribute them to children who need them. We have had collection points in the Student’s Association office and in the Go Green Centre on campus, inviting OU staff to contribute as well. We also invited the Student Leadership Team (SLT) to bring along children’s books to their quarterly meeting in Milton Keynes over the weekend.
We have had a great response and once everything has been collected up we’ll publish a Hoot article with some more information.
In the meantime, if you would like to donate books to the Children’s Book Project this International Book Giving Day, or on any other day, the nearest donation points can be found here.