Behind the Book

Behind the Book

Categories: Education

Behind the Book’s mission is to motivate young people to become engaged readers by connecting them to contemporary writers and illustrators. We bring authors and their books into individual classrooms to build literacy skills, and create a community of life-long readers and writers. Our programs take place in NYC’s underserved public schools, are part of the class curricula and meet the NY State Learning Standards. We believe that every student deserves the freedom that comes from the ability to read and think independently.

Read more about this great organization at the Behind the Book Blog.

How can you help?

For the last three years, CCS funding has supported literacy programs at two local schools and has helped Behind the Book serve approximately 300 students. Last year, Behind the Book piloted the BtheB Library Cart Initiative in schools without a library. Columbia University Libraries generously donated the cart for this initiative.

“This is a great opportunity for schools that don’t have libraries and we’re so grateful that Columbia supported us in this pilot initiative. Already we’re seeing the impact of having access to good books, especially among the boys.” -Jo Umans, Executive Director