Getting Books in Children’s Hands: Creating a Citywide Book Distribution Policy Using a Mixed-Methods Geospatial Approach

American Educational Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
Recognizing the academic benefits of access to print for young children, book distribution programs abound in the United States. Designed to promote book ownership for low-income families, programs have unique delivery systems, leading to a largely fragmented policy. This article describes an urban city’s effort to build a coordinated book distribution program. Phase 1 examines the extent of book distributions, integrating data from 74 organizations and their branches (297). Using geographic information systems, we determined the spatialized patterns of scarcity and/or opportunity and the alignment between the intended and actual audience. In Phase 2, we conducted nine focus groups from neighborhoods receiving these book distributions. Results highlight the complexities of a well-intentioned policy and how multiple methods might inform policymaking in the future.
Source: American Educational Reasearch Journal

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