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For school and district leaders, challenges around learning loss and achievement gaps are lingering as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report from the Education Recovery Scorecard – a collaboration of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University – shows that many students have not fully recovered from learning loss. Reading achievement scores are back above 2019 levels in just three states: Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In other states, achievement gaps between wealthy and high-poverty districts are actually wider.

Equally concerning, federal funds to support learning recovery are running out. Districts who received federal emergency relief aid, including Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars, were required to commit their funds by the end of September 30, 2024. Funds must be fully liquidated by January 28, 2025, unless districts apply for and are approved for an extension, in which case the liquidation date is March 30, 2026.

According to a study released in June by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER Center) and the American Institutes for Research, ESSER dollars had a positive impact on student reading achievement. Yet, CALDER researchers estimate schools would need to spend an additional $9,000 to $13,000 per student after 2023 for a full academic recovery from the pandemic.

Thus, school and district leaders need new sources of funding for strategic initiatives to support learning recovery. A Moody’s Ratings Sector In-Depth report suggests that state budgets are not positioned to fill the gap left by the loss of federal relief funds. While there are wide variations across states, and few, if any, are cutting aid, per-pupil spending is generally not staying in step with inflation and rising costs of necessary expenditures.

Access to Books to Read for Fun is Critical

Providing students with access to engaging books to read at home for fun is a powerful way to accelerate learning recovery.

Research shows that access to books at home is related to reading achievement (Mol & Bus, 2011) – and just a few books are needed to make a significant impact. A decades-long study shows that children growing up in homes of just 20 books get the equivalent of three additional years of schooling compared with children in homes without books, regardless of parent education and income (Evans et al., 2018). Additionally, the impact on vocabulary learning, background knowledge, and comprehension are both immediate and long-term (Allington et al., 2010).

Along these lines, reading for fun has also been linked to reading achievement. In the 2022-23 Long-Term Assessment Results: Reading and Mathematics, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that students who reported reading for fun almost every day had higher reading scores than students who didn’t. The report links the decline in 13-year-olds reporting reading for fun almost every day to a four-point decline in reading scores since the 2019-20 school year, and a seven-point decline over the past decade. In the same vein, recent research shows that pleasure reading is linked to higher scores on cognitive assessments, better educational attainment in young adolescents, fewer mental health problems, and less time spent on electronic devices (Sun et al., 2023).

Similarly, studies show that student choice is also important for reading achievement, especially as students enter middle school when reading preferences are firmly established (Schiefele et al., 2012; Guthrie et al., 2000). Having choice in what one reads helps create intrinsic motivation for reading, which is a strong predictor of reading success. It also sets the stage for children to keep reading even when the vocabulary is challenging or the book seems too long (Lane et al., 2015).

Books and Fundraising Support

To help schools and districts bridge the funding gap while also providing much-needed resources for learning recovery, including books for reading at home, Follett Content has relaunched its online book fairs: Follett Book eFairs.

A Follett Book eFair is an online book fair with curated collections of engaging books for students in grades PreK-5 and 6-8. Students and families can shop a wide selection of books based on their unique reading interests to help build their home libraries. For every purchase that is made, the Book eFair host – a librarian, teacher, or school or district leader – receives 20% back in the form of a credit that can be used to purchase additional books and resources for the school and classroom libraries, or to support any important reading initiative. The rewards can also be spent on cataloging and processing the books to ensure the books arrive shelf-ready.

An online Follett Book eFair is an easy way to provide a book fair experience without the demands of setting up and running a physical fair. And it’s available for all US K-8 schools!

Access to Books for ALL Students

Perhaps most importantly, when combined with funds available from other programs such as Title I for students from families living below the poverty level or Title III funds to support English Learners, Follett Book eFair Gift Cards can give all students in a school access to books for reading practice. In the same way, community groups and business organizations can contribute to school and district fundraising and literacy initiatives by donating funds for student Gift Cards.

Follett Book eFairs boost reading achievement by providing students with access to books at home, choice and voice in reading, and opportunities to read just for the fun of it. They also help librarians, teachers, and K-12 leaders raise important funds for books to support learning recovery initiatives.