The Scripps Howard Fund has distributed the 2 millionth book through its “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign, the fund announced Tuesday, and the milestone book changed hands in Cleveland.
The 2 millionth book was distributed on September 23 at a Scholastic Book Fair in Cleveland, where students picked out age-appropriate books to take home and add to their own personal libraries. The celebration was held in partnership with WEWS, the Scripps ABC-affiliated station in Cleveland.
The campaign is marking 10 years of book distributions this year. It is built on a simple idea: children who can choose their own books, and keep them at home, are more likely to become confident, independent readers.
Support from thousands of donors will let the fund invest more than $1.3 million to provide more than 200,000 free books to children at underserved schools across the United States during the 2026-27 school year, the fund said.
With that investment, the total number of books distributed since the program launched in 2016 will pass 2.2 million. The campaign is supported by The E.W. Scripps Company, Scripps employees, and the communities the company serves, along with the Scripps and Howard families.
“Access to books is access to opportunity,” said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “Books encourage children to be curious and envision futures they may have never considered. Reaching 2 million books is a powerful reflection of what happens when communities come together to ensure all kids can unlock possibilities thanks to reading.”
The model matters as much as the milestone. At the Cleveland fair, students did not receive an assigned title; they selected age-appropriate books themselves to take home and keep. The fund argues that choice is what turns a giveaway into a home library, and home libraries into reading habits, which is why the campaign pairs its book fairs with local Scripps stations like WEWS in the communities those stations serve.
For Cleveland families, the milestone is a reminder that the book fairs rolling through local schools this fall are putting permanent home libraries, not just borrowed books, into the hands of Northeast Ohio children.
Photo: Nick-D, CC BY-SA