UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins said the medical school has invested $700,000 in Worcester's One City–One Library initiative to help Worcester students achieve academic success and prepare for future career opportunities in the increasingly demanding life sciences and health care-driven economy, in a Worcester Telegram & Gazette op-ed published on April 28.
“Despite affluent children having access to 13 books a day, on average, in some of the lowest-income neighborhoods there is only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children,” said Chancellor Collins.
The goal of One City–One Library is to increase access to appropriate, grade-level reading materials across the city of Worcester by bringing public library branch services into four public elementary schools—one in each quadrant of the city—and expanding mobile library services through the addition of a second mobile library vehicle.
“By ensuring elementary students and neighborhood residents across Worcester have easy access to books, computers and the latest technology to improve reading proficiency, we can open children's eyes to the amazing world of possibilities that education creates,” said Collins.
Read the full piece at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette: AS I SEE IT: UMass backing literacy project
