OXFORD, Miss. – The Mississippi Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, an initiative housed within the University of Mississippi’s Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction (CELI), is partnering with Virginia-based nonprofit Read to Them to offer the Mississippi Reads One Book program.

Mississippi Reads One Book provides books for students in Mississippi as part of an effort to establish a culture of reading, increase parental involvement, and begin community wide conversation. The program allows pre-k through 6th grade students to read the same book together. Schools in Lafayette County School District, Oxford School District, and Quitman County School District have already begun reading this year’s title, Fenway and Hattie, which launched on October 19th, 2020. 

Dr. Angela Rutherford, director for CELI shared, “During this time of COVID when kids are at home, this is an opportunity to promote reading to students and provide materials and support for families as they read aloud to children.”

Read to Them is also providing access to digital resources for students participating in Mississippi Reads One Book, as well as chapter recordings from this year’s guest readers, University of Mississippi graduates and hosts of HGTV’s Hometown Ben and Erin Napier.

Through a grant awarded to CELI, students in Quitman County Schools, Lee County Schools, and Okolona Schools, and Vicksburg-Warren School District were able to participate in Mississippi Reads One Book. 

Community members in the Vicksburg-Warren School District took time to virtually read to students in 2nd-5th grade classrooms. Michele Conelly, executive director at United Way of West Central Mississippi shared, “The love of literacy was felt across our amazing community last week and I was honored to be a part of this ‘movement’!” 

To learn more about Mississippi Reads One Book, visit https://readtothem.org/mississippi/.