presents fun reading material to elementary school students through a network of volunteer readers and role models. was borne from the original Guys Read program, founded by Greg Hill in 2006. The intent of the Guys Read program is to provide interesting reading material and positive role models to 4th grade boys, which is the age group of boys that is most likely to lose interest in reading for f
un. A few years later, a companion program titled Gals Read was founded, and focused on expanding the reading material available to 4th grade girls and introducing new books. Since then, the programs have evolved into Guys Read Gals Read, Inc. (a.k.a., GR2), a non-profit organization dedicated to running the Guys and Gals Read programs from the base funding through book selection and volunteer recruitment. For the Guys Read program, each semester rotating teams of men go to elementary schools in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District during the school's lunchtime twice a week for two months. At each visit they read aloud the beginning of one of four well-illustrated, boy-friendly books. Multiple copies of each book are donated to each school library. The readers use document cameras to project the pages onto a wall, and laser pointers to show their place on the page, so even low-level readers can participate. A party is held at the main public library at the end of the month. Featuring Guys Games (spitwad target shooting, ping-pong ball maze, etc.) and Guys Grub (cheese pizza and water), it's proven a great way of attracting families to the public library. The Gals Read program is run slightly differently, as their development and reading enjoyment often varies. For the Gals Read program, volunteer women visit the elementary schools multiple times and read chapters of a smaller selection of books, which are also donated to the school libraries. GR2 is funded through private donations and operated entirely by volunteers, including the diverse group of men that participate in readings in addition to the governing board of 9 members. The president and the board work with school district officials and school librarians to select books and run a successful program. GR2 also provides limited funding and support to satellite Guys Read programs in other regions of Alaska, and has inspired sister programs in other states as well. For more information, check out the Guys Read Gals Read United website (GuysGalsRead.org) or the library's webpage (http://fnsblibrary.org), for the free online program manual.
