SAIL Reads Expands to Reach 1,400 Alabama Students

By: Staff

Thousands of Alabama children will have new stories to read this summer thanks to the expansion of the SAIL Reads program, an initiative designed to boost literacy and build home libraries across the state.

The Summer Adventures in Learning (SAIL) program will distribute books to 1,400 students in 10 counties. The five-week effort begins June 1, and is supported by the Alabama State Department of Education, the Montgomery Education Foundation and the Junior League of Birmingham. The Alabama Power Foundation is also proud to partner with SAIL Reads and to support their programs.

SAIL Reads complements SAIL’s core academic programming with a book-club style approach that encourages students and parents to read together. Each child receives two culturally relevant books per week, 10 in total, along with activities and reading guides.

“After completing a small pilot last summer, our program partners determined that the books help increase student engagement and encourage attendance,” said Suzy Harris, SAIL program manager. “They also encourage parent engagement as students build their home libraries.”

The program is modeled on Montgomery Education Foundation’s successful MGM Reads initiative, which combats “summer slide,” or the learning loss that may occur without daily academic practice. “The summer reading collection we have curated supports and enriches community-based programs and families at home,” said Ann Sikes, president of the Montgomery Education Foundation.

The 2025 pilot showed promising results. They included:

• Growth in number of books in the homes of participating students. SAIL Reads increased the overall number of books in each home by more than 25%.
• Parent sentiment. After completing the program, 97% rated reading at home as highly important.
• Change in reading behavior (number of minutes reading) at home. After participating in SAIL Reads, all parents reported that their children read at least 30 minutes per week at home.

“The children who participated in SAIL Reads every day increased their scores in double digits,” said Dena LeNoir, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Alabama. “We watched so many children grow not only in their reading skills, but also in their confidence.”

This year’s expansion is funded by an Alabama Summer and After-School Program (ASAP) grant from the Alabama State Department of Education. The books were distributed to SAIL programs around the state by a team of 30 volunteers serving 33 hours and coordinated by the Junior League of Birmingham.

Founded in 2012, SAIL supports high-quality summer learning programs across Alabama. The organization SAIL has invested over $12 million in summer learning and has helped more than 25,000 students turn summer learning losses into gains.

For more information on SAIL Reads, visit sailalabama.org.