Mayor Ann Johnston
Related Information
Education and Literacy
Mayor's Book Club 
For years, Stockton has wrestled with its image as a city with literacy challenges. The Mayor's Book Club hopes to raise awareness that reading to preschoolers by beginning early and reading often to them is a critical factor in developing valuable literacy skills. The Mayor's Book Club goal is to motivate parents, siblings, grandparents and friends to read to preschoolers regularly. Early education makes a difference!
The Mayor's Book Club does not advocate teaching preschoolers to read. In contrast, the main goal is to develop their passion to read through enjoyable experiences with books, motivating preschoolers to want to read while building a solid foundation for later success in school and life.
Many have a misconception that if a child isn't talking, he has no language. Nothing could be further from the truth. The moment a newborn enters the world, he becomes a language sponge, soaking up all he hears, sees and touches. The child begins to make and then imitate sounds; sounds and words become symbols for objects, people and all he encounters in his environment. The more the child experiences, the more he absorbs and the more he builds his language skills. Words and sentences will continue to have meaning for the child as he matures and begins to comprehend and interact with the world around him.
Please join Mayor Johnston in her commitment to raising the literacy level of our children by reading regularly to our preschoolers. It is a vital investment in our children and the future of Stockton.
"The single most important activity for building knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." - 1985 Commission on Reading report, "Becoming a Nation of Readers"
Read to Me, Stockton!
Stockton has a crisis in literacy that demands a community solution. "Read to Me, Stockton!" is a project of the Mayor's Book Club aimed at increasing school readiness and literacy in our youngest children, age 0 to age 5, by mailing a free age appropriate book directly to the child each month. We have partnered with the Dolly Parton Foundation who mails the books to our children in the 95205 and 95206 zip codes. These zip code have the highest number of schools needing significant improvement based on state standards. As funding increases, additional zip code areas will be included.
Our partners in this project are the Rotary Club of Stockton, Stockton Unified School District, the University of the Pacific, United Way of San Joaquin, San Joaquin County Office of Education, Bring Me A Book, the Stockton-San Joaquin Public Library, and First 5.
Donations
Special thanks goes to Kaiser Permanente for the very generous corporate donation of $25,000 to the "Read to Me, Stockton!" program. Kaiser's donation provides books to 1,000 children for one year. Their donation demonstrates their corporate philosophy to be a leader in educating those who live in the communities they serve. Visit the Kaiser link provided below to find out more about their programs.
Additional donations have been received from AT&T ($2,500) and Delta Rotary ($1,000) Visit the Rotary Club of Stockton link provided below to make a donation or register your child in the "Read to Me, Stockton!" program.
External Links
This City of Stockton web page last reviewed on --- 3/19/2012