A Barrington woman will use a $200,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation to launch a campaign to distribute thousands of free books to elementary school students as a way to improve their academic achievement.

Kate Lentz is one of three Rhode Islanders chosen from nearly 200 applicants to receive a $200,000 Carter Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Innovation. The fellowships are made possible through the vision and generosity of philanthropists Letitia and the late John Carter.

Ms. Lentz will launch Raising Readers in RI, which will focus giving culturally appropriate book to low-income kindergarten and first-, second- and third-grade students. She points to the state’s goal of doubling the percentage of third-graders able to read at grade level by 2015. Only 40 percent of children currently achieve that standard.

“Studies show that children growing up in homes with at least 20 books get three years more schooling than children from homes without books. Providing elementary school students access to great books fostered by a passionate network of adult readers is a necessary, bold and reenergized approach to tackling literacy head on in Rhode Island,” Ms. Lentz said.

Ms. Lentz will recruit a volunteer network of teachers, librarians and reading advocates to collect and distribute books and work with young readers in a variety of settings.

“Access to books is the first step in closing the literacy gap," she said. "Putting more books featuring diverse characters in the hand of all children shows we really have more in common with one another than expected."

As a former elementary school teacher and librarian and past president of the Primrose School and Barrington Middle School PTOs, Ms. Lentz brings years of experience to the initiative. She has been director of the Rhode Island Center for the Book for the past six years.

“I went into schools and libraries across the state and met so many teachers who are going above and beyond the curriculum handed down to them, to teach the way they know how and they are desperate for new and relevant books that reflect the lives of the children they teach,” she said.

Ms. Lentz points to studies that say the number-one indicator of high school graduation and future success is a child's ability to read on grade level by the third grade.

“The cause of poor literacy among low-income children is complex, but simple access to books is one of the biggest obstacles, and, perhaps, the biggest opportunity, in equalizing children’s literacy," Ms. Lentz said. "We can't move the literacy dial without giving children access to quality literature. Our economy can't afford for us to not care about this." 

Other Carter Fellowship recipients:

• Eva Agudelo, of Providence, will launch Hope’s Harvest RI. The initiative will harness volunteers to feed the hungry and prevent food waste by rescuing surplus fruits and vegetables from local farms.

• Erminio Pinque will work with municipal planners, community leaders and property owners to re-purpose vacant storefronts all over Rhode Island as cultural-activity hubs that will inspire large-scale public events.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Working with generous and visionary donors, the Foundation raised $38 million and awarded $43 million in grants to organizations addressing the state’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities in 2017.