Donations for the Reading in the LB Sea literacy fair will be accepted through April 30
The Anaheim, Orange, Cherry, and 7th Street Neighborhood Association (AOC7) is collecting new and used children’s books for their annual literacy fair, which will take place in May.
“We found that children from more underserved areas, the words that they learn are less than children in more prominent areas,” AOC7 board member Mary Simmons said. “We need to make sure that our children are reading, that they have access to books and that they have their own books.”
The association hopes to collect 3,000 new and gently used children’s books for the literacy fair, well below the number of books they’ve collected in past years, though they usually start collecting in January. (They’ve collected as many as 8,000 books in a single drive, though Simmons said the number usually sits around 5,000.)
The association is accepting book donations from March 1 to April 30 at four locations across Long Beach. They encourage the donation of books in English, Spanish and Khmer.
The fair, AOC7’s “signature event,” has been on hiatus for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons said. This will be the association’s eighth annual literacy fair.
The literacy fair first debuted in 2012 as a way to prevent what Simmons called “the summer slide”—a trend showing that students lose significant knowledge in math and reading over summer break.
“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was go swimming, go to the park […] I wasn’t raised in a family of book readers, but now I’m encouraging that because my grandkids are [readers],” she said, noting the group chooses to hold the fair in May before summer break starts.
Long Beach Unified School District literacy rates have already declined after two years of online learning. Data released in November 2021 revealed that one-third of LBUSD students are three grade levels behind in math and reading, with Black, Hispanic and Pacific Islander students most negatively impacted.
Although the group typically plans to give one or two books to each child, they usually leave with enough books for a small at-home library, she said.
“When they outgrow those books, they get passed along to siblings,” Simmons said.
The event will also feature a booth from Project Jumpstart, the Aquarium’s aquarium on wheels (thus the LB “Sea” name) and resource tents for parents. Participants will also receive a free lunch.
“They get healthy snacks, they get their bags packed with books, they go home will all kinds of resources,” Simmons said. “We try to bring everything, where it’s kind of like a one-stop-shop.”
This year’s event will be a dual celebration: one celebrating children’s literacy and another celebrating the association’s 2019 first-place win for “Neighborhood of the Year” and “social revitalization” for their literacy fair from the national nonprofit Neighborhoods USA.
Books can be dropped off at the Mark Twain Library (1401 E. Anaheim St), Chase Bank (401 E. Ocean Blvd), the Aquarium of the Pacific (100 Aquarium Way) and the Orange County Credit Unit (1802 Ximeno Ave).
At the end of April, volunteers from the association will organize the books and do quality control, making sure that books don’t have missing pages or drawings in them.
Those interested in volunteering with AOC7 can contact them through their website or Instagram page.
The Reading in the LB Sea literacy fair will take place Sunday, May 21 at MacArthur Park, 1321 E. Anaheim Street.
