On Wednesday, February 3rd, LINC joined millions of readers, writers, and storytellers around the globe in raising our voices for the 12th annual World Read Aloud Day, making this year’s celebration the biggest one yet! At LINC, we could bear-ly contain our excitement during our Virtual Family Academy on World Read Aloud Day! Staten Island Community Coordinator Alyssa Hidalgo led us in a read-aloud of The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach, followed by an arts and crafts session where we each made our own bears. We were blown away by the talent of the young future artists as…

Social justice is built on educational justice; educational justice is founded on literacy. The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th has left a dark imprint on our collective consciousness. It is a bleak strand in our country’s often difficult narrative. At LINC, we are devastated and saddened by these violent events and unequivocally denounce these and any domestic terrorist attacks against our democratic values. As we get ready to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and welcome President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, we would like to share our vision of the world we are creating…

The holiday season is a time of giving gifts and giving service. Volunteers from ViacomCBS recently brought joy to LINC by giving their time to our Holiday Read Aloud Video Project. On Monday, December 7, 34 ViacomCBS volunteers signed onto a Zoom orientation where they learned how they could be of service by simply recording a video. LINC’s programs have been completely virtual for most of 2020. Our volunteer service projects have also shifted to online platforms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of LINC’s volunteer programs, however, remains the same–to help the organization meet real needs…

The difficulties of 2020 have been inescapable. People living in the poorest New York City neighborhoods are dying from coronavirus at more than double the rate of others. There are far too many stories of hardship and sorrow. Despite every challenge, our commitment to defending children’s access to books and literacy is resolute. Here at LINC, we are sharing stories of resilience and gratitude. They start with the families we serve, and the volunteers we have trained as literacy advocates. They include a staff that has reimagined its way of building a networked neighborhood, now a virtual community and a…

Marea Wilkes graduated from LINC’s Very Involved Parent (VIP) Academy in Spring 2018 and has remained an active parent since that time. Throughout the pandemic, Marea has helped reach out to families and regularly participates in LINC’s virtual programs. Marea’s son Nathaniel even led a successful virtual Reading Everywhere (RE) program after learning from his mom. It’s so exciting to see Marea’s VIP skills being passed down to her son. Marea is passionate about literacy and will continue to lead and support countless LINC programs. Thank you Marea! You are a RISING STAR and we are proud to work with…

On Friday, December 4, New York Times Best-Selling author of Dragons Love Tacos Adam Rubin joined LINC live for our #TacoBoutBooks online program and the audience was over the moon. With this quirky writer as our special guest you could feel the young readers’ enthusiasm bursting through the screen, making this one of our most popular virtual programs ever with almost 100 attendees. LINC received a generous donation of Adam’s Dragons Love Tacos, the Sequel from Penguin Books a few weeks before the event. Along with specially designed activity kits, LINC staff safely distributed copies of the book in the…

On Tuesday, November 17, LINC launched our 2020 Giving Tuesday campaign with a #TacoBoutBooks Fiesta! Chef Joey Campanaro of the Little Owl and LINC’s Giving Tuesday ambassador, author Adam Rubin, joined the LINC Board of Directors and over 100 guests to make tacos together! Chef Joey started off the night with a margarita recipe and toast before diving into a few of his secret ingredients and cooking techniques we are sure to remember. Who knew that soy sauce could be an important ingredient in a Mexican standard? While Joey cooked, Adam told us about his inspiration for writing Dragons Love…

Our Giving Tuesday is kicking off with a live-cooking class, featuring Chef Joey Campanaro & author Adam Rubin, whose best-selling children’s book Dragon’s Love Tacos is our theme for Giving Tuesday. Reading is Culture. Reading is Comfort. We all need comfort now more than ever. Just like Dragons Love Tacos, Children Love Reading.  Reading is the starting point to a world of possibilities. Because little brains grow by 90% during a child’s first five years, we work with parents to show them how playing, singing, talking, and reading together lead to independent reading and a hunger for learning. We bring families together through children’s books,…

FIRE UP a love of READING and PUT BOOKS in the hands of children We’ve partnered again with Adam Rubin, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Dragons Love Tacos, for a special campaign that will have you #TacoBoutBooks just like dragons talk about tacos. Children’s futures are shaped by very early experiences. Little brains grow by as much as 90% during the first five years. But children affected by systemic inequity lack the resources and early learning opportunities to give them a healthy and fair start. COVID-19 is only increasing disparities.  Today’s opportunity gap is tomorrow’s achievement gap.  At LINC, we know it is…

Attention all readers! As we bid goodbye to the long days of summer and say hello to autumn’s falling leaves, LINC is partnering with Jumpstart to present the fifteenth annual Read for the Record campaign on Thursday, October 29th, 2020. This year, LINC’s virtual programs will be at the forefront of Jumpstart’s national literacy event as we help to build intergenerational literacy communities by providing families with the tools they need to spread the joy of reading. Each year, Read for the Record unites millions of adults and children as they read the same book on the same day and…

LINC is delighted to announce that Jordan Halpern-Leistner has joined our Board of Directors. Jordan is a Principal at Silver Lake, a leading global technology investment firm. He has spent his entire professional career at Silver Lake, initially joining the firm as an Analyst. Jordan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jordan brings essential business and technology acumen to LINC along with his passion for our mission. Read more about Jordan and find out more about his favorite children’s books: What attracted you to Literacy Inc. and excited you about joining the…

“Thank you Mr. Olbrys. We had a great time hearing your story and learning how to turn goals into actions and how to keep going in challenging times. Goal setting is now incorporated into our life.”– LINC virtual program attendee At LINC we believe wholeheartedly that literacy is essential for children to succeed in life, and Brooks Olbrys’ insightful early chapter book trilogy, The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob aligns perfectly with our mission. The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob integrates the fundamental principals needed for achievement–purpose, vision, persistence, gratitude and creativity through a friendly group of sea creatures.   LINC staff and…

Our LINC family continues to grow! We are delighted to announce our newest board member, Tracy Dockray, who has enriched the LINC brand with her beautiful illustrations. Tracy Dockray is an author and illustrator of children’s books as well as part-time librarian. For her, reading is her pleasure, profession and mission. It is no surprise that LINC’s approach to solving the literacy crisis aligns well with her own interests. Tracy and her husband, Mark Rudd, were honored at LINC’s 2020 “Ungala.” What attracted you to Literacy Inc. and what is most exciting about joining the board? A friend introduced me…

Every day that children do not read, they are losing ground. Children need to read just as surely as they need food and shelter, and books can provide a foundation for their future during these tumultuous times. At Literacy Inc. (LINC) we know that books are essential and we are eternally grateful to our champions at HarperCollins Children’s Books. With their generous donation of 17,000 books, LINC has continued to serve families across the five boroughs of New York City throughout the pandemic. These books were the center of Literacy Inc.’s virtual gala in May and LINC’s monthly literacy celebrations…

Thank you to the many families who knocked it out of the park at LINC’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game event on September 25th, 2020! In an afternoon jam-packed with thrilling baseball stories, activities, songs and sports cards, LINC families combined celebrating one of America’s favorite pastimes with literacy fun. At the center of our bilingual event was a storytime led by LINC staff members Delilah Santamaria and Evelyn Cabreja featuring Out of the Ballpark by Alex Rodriguez, illustrated by Frank Morrison. Before the famed Yankees shortstop and record-smashing slugger became A-Rod, this story from his little league…

Set a new running record and support LINC with RBC’s Global Virtual Race for the Kids. On your mark, get set…GO! LINC is gearing up for one of the biggest global family runs and charitable events of the season. This year’s RBC Race for the Kids will take place virtually on Saturday and Sunday, October 17-18, 2020. Register to run or walk. Support LINC and help us spread the joy of books to children across New York City. Make sure NYC is well represented! Here’s how you can take action:  1. Register to run or start a team.2. Motivate your friends and family…

Literacy Inc. joins the world in mourning the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a towering champion of gender equity. We are grateful for her work and legacy. As an attorney, Ruth Bader Ginsburg understood that discrimination based on gender violated the equal protection clause of the constitution and successfully argued that this was harmful both to individuals and our collective society. As a Supreme Court jurist, she reached her conclusions – often dissenting opinions – with that guiding principle foremost. The consequences of her courtroom victories are empowering for all, but most particularly women and people affected by systemic…

Mi Experiencia con LINC VIP Era el primer año de escuela de mi hijo Alan que con apenas 4 años comenzaba a vivir la gran aventura de la educación. Yo por supuesto estaba muy emocionada, así que estaba pendiente a cada cosa que sucedia en la escuela y cualquier actividad en la que pudiera participar. Pasaron los dias y recuerdo como ahora cuando en la primavera del año 2018 una comisión de Literacy Inc. (LINC) visitó el centro escolar Rose Hill Pre-kinder donde estudiaba mi niño, e invitaron a los padres y tutores a participar del programa LINC’s VIP (Padre…

Literacy Inc.’s Very Involved Parents (VIPs) are at the heart of the work we do promoting early childhood literacy throughout the five boroughs of New York City. On Friday, August 7, LINC held the 2020 Fordham VIP Summer Celebration to highlight the commitment of our VIPs in the Fordham neighborhood of The Bronx. Led by LINC’s Fordham Community Coordinator, Evelyn Cabreja, more than 20 parents joined us online for a celebration that included a movement activity, readings, and testimonials given by the VIPs. Felicia Batista started out the program on the right foot with a fun song and dance. Julia…

Whether virtual or in person, it is that time of the year again–the time when we go back to school–and New York City families from all five boroughs are invited to celebrate with LINC. On Friday, August 21 at 10:00am, LINC is partnering with the renowned children’s book publisher, HarperCollins to hold its annual Back to School Celebration online. Join LINC and over 100 New York City families on Zoom for virtual literacy activities, a guest teacher appearance and other fun-filled surprises. You may be wondering what makes LINC’s Back to School bash so special… With summer ending and school…