Read with kids
Read-aloud sessions and comprehension questions in libraries and parks, built to move students toward grade level.
Queens, New York
Helping New Yorkers learn, read, and thrive.
ReadNY is a student-run literacy initiative bringing free reading programs to children and everyday English to adult immigrants across New York City.
13
Student volunteers
2
Neighborhood chapters
5
Working teams
$0
Cost to participate
The problem
Too many New Yorkers are reading below the level they need.
Literacy rates are falling and access to reading resources is uneven across the city. A growing number of children read below grade level, and without support that gap widens every school year.
Adults who immigrate here face a parallel problem: limited English makes ordinary daily tasks — a doctor's visit, a lease, a job application, a parent-teacher conference — far harder than they should be.
ReadNY exists to close both gaps, in the neighborhoods we actually live in.
What we do
Three things, done consistently.
English for adults
Practical vocabulary and phrases for daily life in New York — appointments, transit, paperwork, and work.
Books in hands
Book drives and donations so families have something to read after the session ends.
Where we work
Flushing, Fresh Meadows & Jamaica.
We run sessions in public libraries, schools, parks, and over Zoom — with a focus on the Chinese communities of Flushing and the families of Jamaica, Queens.
- ▸Public libraries — reading circles and info stands
- ▸Schools — classroom partnerships and book drives
- ▸Parks — pop-up read-alouds and outreach tables
- ▸Zoom — webinars and discussion groups