Today, the millions of children who have never owned a book and have no books in their homes are candidates for illiteracy. Children who own books learn to value and love books. Their books become good friends. Learning is a natural companion activity in the daily life of book-owning children. The Program RIF is a labor-intensive program staffed entirely by volunteers who are primarily educators, librarians and writers.
Volunteers visit schools, libraries and social service facilities.
They tell stories, talk about books and invite each child to select a book to keep from an assortment of colorful, carefully chosen new paperbacks. After RIF volunteers visit a classroom or a homeless family shelter several times during the year, each child has the beginning of a library and, usually, a lifetime reading habit. When youngsters read books, they open their minds and their futures. The need for RIF's program in the Los Angeles area is especially acute. Fulfillment of the requests that pour in from schools and social service organizations is limited only by the number of volunteers and the amount of funds available.