The opportunity for literacy is a gift taken for granted by most students in our country. For children in many developing countries around the world, learning to read is a privilege beyond their grasp. Teachers, books and other reading resources are simply inaccessible.

Jane Kurtz, internationally acclaimed author of children's books and young adults, spent much of her childhood in the African country of Ethiopia. Those experiences shaped her thoughts and are present in many of her delightful stories.

Ethiopian native, Gebregeorgis Yohannes, completed his education to become a librarian after entering the U.S. as a political refugee. He has returned to his native homeland to open a reading room for children in the country's capital city of Addis Ababa. Many Ethiopian schools have as little as one book for every hundred students. Public libraries are nonexistent or found in cities far removed from many villages. Literacy in this third world country hovers at 35% for adults and even less for girls.

The Kansas Reading Association joins Jane and Yohannes in the Ethiopian Books for Children and Educational Fund (EBCEB) in an international project named Book$ and a Buck. This special project enables members to collect books for Ethiopian children.

Through local KRA reading councils and the efforts of others interested in worldwide literacy, new and gently-used books will be shipped to a recently opened reading room in Addis Ababa. KRA encourages members to accompany each book with a contribution of one dollar which will assist in defraying the cost of shipping, but donations without financial support are also welcome.

We can make a difference in other lands. Through the power of literacy, we can touch the lives and shape the futures of children in Ethiopian cities and villages. Please join KRA, Jane Kurtz and Yohannes in their effort through your gifts to the KRA Book$ and a Buck project. you cn create change in our world with your contributions.

Contact President, LeAnn Clark, for further information. You may click here for email or call 620-327-2310.