Virgie Townsend is the author of the short story collection “Because We Were Christian Girls,” which won the 2022 CNY Book Award for Fiction. She lives in East Syracuse.

If you need a reason to feel joyful this fall, sign up to volunteer with Book Buddies, the United Way of CNY and Syracuse City School District’s program that helps students practice their reading.

For many of us, learning to read was not joyful. We live in a country, state and city that all struggle with teaching people how to read. Across the United States, 1 in 5 adults can’t complete basic reading tasks, such as paraphrasing or making inferences. New York ranks 27th in the nation on National Assessment of Educational Progress reading scores. In 2024, 20% of Syracuse students in grades 3 through 8 grades were proficient in reading on state English Language Arts exams.

My main memory of learning to read is of my mother and I sitting at the kitchen table with a phonics book, both of us crying in frustration. I was one of 10% to 15% of all students who need intensive, frequent instruction to learn how to read. Only a lucky few — about 5% to 10% of children — learn to read easily.

Book Buddies meets children where they are and makes learning to read fun. The staff try to match students with materials that fit their individual reading levels. The practice books are focused on specific skills, bright, and often just silly enough to keep children engaged.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, I worked with two kindergarteners. My first Book Buddy was more like I was at his age and needed clear, frequent reading support. My second Book Buddy was one of the small percentage for whom reading comes easily. Even still, it took time and practice for his confidence to build up enough for his giftedness to come forward.

Both my Book Buddies made progress that wowed me. At the end of the program, staff held a graduation party and sent all the participants home with their own set of new books. It lifted my heart to see where the kids’ reading levels were versus when the program began and to witness the kids’ pride and delight in what they had accomplished.

My Book Buddies weren’t the only ones who thrived in the program. A 2024 evaluation by the consultancy group Apter & O’Connor found that students who completed at least 30 days in Book Buddies performed better on literacy tests in comparison to students who weren’t in the program. Book Buddies who completed more than 40 days had the best results.

National studies have reinforced that similar high-dosage tutoring programs are effective. The National Bureau of Economic Research found they provide “consistent and substantial positive impacts on learning outcomes,” especially reading tutoring programs offered in lower grades during school hours like Book Buddies.

Most importantly, teachers, parents and students think Book Buddies works. In a new 2025 survey, 100% of the teachers who responded said they believed the program had a positive effect on their students. Ninety-five percent of parents reported their child had become a more confident reader. Ninety-three percent of students said they believed Book Buddies helped their reading.

Personally, I was so convinced of the program’s efficacy that I began using the skills at home with my own 5-year-old. Good news: Neither of us has cried yet! Book Buddies helped me give a more positive early literacy experience to my kindergartener. He can often be found curled up on our couch with a book about animals.

When I was a kid, it took untold hours of instruction and practice before I learned to read — most of them discouraging. Eventually, I fell in love with reading. Once I found that joy, I began to believe I could write, too. Then that I had something to say. Finally, I began to believe I could write books and articles for major publications, so I have.

With the right help, learning to read becomes a virtuous cycle: The more a child practices reading, the more they believe they can read. The more they believe in their own reading, the more they love it. And when a child loves reading, who knows how far they’ll go? Book Buddies gives us all the opportunity to find out.

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