Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation
Improving lives through the power of literacy
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Houston is facing a literacy crisis. Children who do not read on grade level by the end of the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school, but 60% of children enter kindergarten lacking reading readiness skills and 40% of children fail to meet minimum reading standards by the end of the third grade. Nearly 75% of Houston's schoolchildren are considered economically disadvantaged. Research shows that 61% of economically disadvantaged children do not have books in their homes, and children growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-reading as compared to 1,000 to 1,700 hours for middle-income child. BBHLF is working to bridge the academic gap and ensure that all children are given the resources needed to develop essential literacy skills.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
My Home Library
My Home Library is a program aimed at helping economically disadvantaged children build their very own home libraries. Children log onto a custom-built website and create a wish list of six books they want to read and own. BBHLF works with participating schools to sponsor each child's wish list in partnership with our donors and partners. Since the program's launch, over half a million home libraries have been distributed to students throughout Houston.
Curiosity Cruiser Mobile Library
BBHLF oversees three mobile libraries in partnership with the Harris County Public Library. Through our Curiosity Cruisers we provide out-of-school programming to children and families in low-income neighborhoods. The Cruisers visit affordable housing communities, community centers and government assisted apartment communities. Programming includes S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) activities integrated with reading. Children engage in hands-on activities and experiments and are given the opportunity to build home libraries by selecting books to read and keep from the Curiosity Cruisers.
Reading Roundup
Reading Roundup is a reading mentorship program implemented in partnership with local school districts. We bring volunteers together with first, second, and third grade classrooms to share the joy of reading and build essential literacy skills.
Read and Rise
Read and Rise is a family literacy program implemented in partnership with the Houston Area Urban League. The program equips parents of preschool and elementary school children with books and strategies to support their child’s early literacy development.
Camp Adventure!
Camp Adventure! is an immersive summer day camp experience embedded of HISD’s four-week summer school term at select campuses as a daily, two-hour, afternoon program. The dynamic curriculum exposes students to S.T.E.A.M (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) learning and literacy-building skills through exploratory activities and lessons like engineering projects, storytelling, games and music.
Barbara's Book Boxes
The Barbara’s Book Boxes project, an initiative of the Foundation’s Young Professionals Group (YPG), enables donors to place “little free libraries” in the areas of Houston that need them most. Barbara’s Book Boxes are small boxes placed in a publicly accessible location with the intent of incorporating a “take a book, leave a book” policy among communities. These libraries serve as a unifying and educational resource for recipients of all ages.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
My Home Library
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric indicates how many under-served, at-risk children received a home library of new books the children self-selected through our My Home Library program.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This metric represents the number of volunteers serving in our Ladies for Literacy Guild and Young Professionals Group.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our primary goal is to ensure that every child in Houston is able to read at or above grade level by the end of the third grade. We aim to accomplish this by working toward three imperatives: (1) Parents will be empowered to be their child's first and most important teachers; (2) Every child in Houston will have access to books of his or her choice in the home; and (3) Every child in Houston will have access to an expansive network of reading volunteers.
With the publication of groundbreaking report, "Houston's Adult Literacy Blueprint," we have expanded the scope of our impact to encompass adult literacy. Working alongside a coalition of adult literacy providers and corporate sponsors, we are working to support adults who need and deserve a second chance to acquire the literacy and technology skills necessary to earn a living wage and reach their fullest potential in life.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
BBHLF works to create change by (1) increasing awareness of the city’s low literacy rates; (2) mobilizing volunteers to expand the capacity of evidence-based literacy programs and services; (3) developing innovative literacy programs to meet the learning and resource needs of the community; and (4) investing in literacy programs and services through strategic partnerships and financial investment. Through programs like My Home Library, which has served over 88,000 children to date, and our three Curiosity Cruiser mobile libraries, we are bridging gaps and giving children the tools and resources needed to build important literacy skills and develop a love of reading. Membership groups like the Ladies for Ladies for Literacy and the Young Professionals Group, along with our extensive network of volunteers, provide children increased access to reading mentors and meaningful out-of-school supports.
Houston's Adult Literacy Blueprint outlines the challenges of low literacy and brings awareness to the economic, educational, and social implications of this pervasive issue. The Blueprint designates seven goals: (1) awareness and action, (2) a comprehensive system, (3) multi-generational learning, (4) workforce skills and opportunities, (5) digital resources and skills, (6) common data systems and practices, and (7) sustainable resources and progress.
Together, these seven goals outline a framework to understand learner and community needs, innovate and implement solutions tailored to adult learners, and provide resources and funding to execute these programs equitably.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
In 2014, BBHLF launched Connect4Literacy.org, a volunteer engagement platform designed to build the capacity of our literacy program partners and serve as a central hub for volunteer recruitment and management. The platform is used by over 40 partner organizations today, including HISD and the Houston and Harris County public library systems. Over 10,000 member accounts have logged more than 105,000 volunteer hours to date, with BBHLF fully underwriting hosting costs and providing training, technical support, and marketing services to organizations using the site.
In addition to providing support to partner organizations, BBHLF has developed a comprehensive set of evidence-based literacy programs designed to promote early literacy development. Each summer BBHLF hosts Camp Adventure!, a summer learning program combining S.T.E.A.M. and literacy activities to mitigate summer learning loss.
Through My Home Library, our signature program which, to date, has distributed over 100,000 home libraries, students are able to create book wish lists through our custom-built website, MyHomeLibraryHouston.org, and build their own home libraries of six brand new books each. Through a partnership with Harris County Public Library, our three Curiosity Cruiser mobile libraries provide books and educational programming to libraries, community centers, and apartment complexes.
We also implement Reading Roundup, a classroom mentorship program, Read Houston Read, a one-on-one student mentorship program, and Read and Rise, a family literacy program, in schools across the Greater Houston Area.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since the Foundation's creation in 2013, much progress has been made. In 2014 we published a report called Houston's Literacy Crisis: A Blueprint for Community Action which has served as our road map. We have built a coalition of literacy partners across Houston and created a volunteer infrastructure through a Ladies for Literacy Guild, a Young Professionals Group and corporate partnerships.
Through our programs, more than 90,000 disadvantaged children in Houston now have a home library of books they self-selected through our My Home Library program. Several thousand first and second graders in Houston ISD have a reading mentor through Read Houston Read and Reading Roundup. Results of that program show that children who have a reading mentor outperformed their peers on the end of year reading exams. Traditionally under-served children are now receiving educational programming through three Curiosity Cruiser and summer-based programs, such as Camp Adventure. In addition, we have built 12 Family Place Libraries in public library branches across Houston, providing families of children younger than 5 years access to specialized workshops, curated books and toys.
There have been slight increases in 3rd grade reading levels across Houston.
In 2021, the Foundation partnered with the Houston Mayor's Office of Adult Literacy to release "Houston's Adult Literacy Blueprint," a groundbreaking report on the state of adult literacy in our city. More than 100 cross-sector leaders contributed valuable insight to inform the creation of this strategic plan of action. The report outlines seven goals to raise awareness of Houston's low literacy crisis.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation
Board of directorsas of 02/13/2024
Neil Bush
Greg Garland
Phillips 66
Stephen Maislin
Greater Houston Community Foundation
Terri Lacy
Andrews Kurth Kenyon, LLP
Maria Bush
Y. Ping Sun
Yetter Coleman LLP
Martha Carnes
Rodney Ellis
Harris County
Anthony Canales
Telemundo Houston
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/27/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.