A public-private partnership could help bring a proven summer reading strategy to thousands more children across North Carolina. 

The Duke Endowment and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction are planning an expansion of Annual Book Fairs, a program designed to reduce summer reading loss by giving children books they choose and keep. Two randomized controlled trials have found reading gains of about one-third of a grade level for students in high-poverty schools. 

If matched with public funding, the Endowment’s five-year investment could reach 6,000-8,000 students annually for three years while officials evaluate the program’s impact in North Carolina.