Alarming Statistics

42 million adult Americans can't read.
National Adult Literacy Survey

50 million Americans are limited to a 4th or 5th grade reading level.
National Adult Literacy Survey

The number of functionally illiterate adults increases by over 2 million persons each year.
National Rights to Read Foundation

At least 43% of adults in poverty have low literacy skills.

60% of all prison inmates can barely read or write and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.

2/3 of the world's illiterate adults are women.
ProLiteracy

What We're Doing

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
Ray Bradbury

Alert! This campaign has been issued a challenge grant of $25,000. Help us meet the challenge!

We want to light a fire…

Despite the fact that books contain our most sacred and valued thoughts, illiteracy in America is growing an at alarming rate.

The illiterate and functionally illiterate are subject to social intimidation, health risks, stress, low income, and many other pitfalls associated with their reading and writing deficits.

If that isn't problem enough, low literacy is the root cause of poverty, increased incarceration, welfare dependency, and medical costs.

That's why we're going to burn the books.

In the past, people have burned books to keep you from reading them. We're burning books because fewer and fewer people are able to read them. Pretty soon, these piles of unread books will be an eyesore--a reflection on the what our society has become and a reminder of the suppression of knowledge that is illiteracy.

No books will be spared.

Classics and poetry, suspense and mystery, non-fiction, history, and children's stories--they will all feed the fire. The matches will be lit on October 24, 2009 at 7pm.

Unless you save them.

There is something you can do to stop this from happening. You can actually save a book from the destruction and help stamp out illiteracy...