Schools and libraries across the United State are celebrating Read Across America on March 2 and we want to share some great reads with you! Read Across America is actually a year-long initiative launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA) to motivate children and teens to read. March is National Reading Month and a big celebration is held throughout the nation each year on March 2. NEA was originally inspired by Dr. Seuss’s birthday, which is March 2, but Read Across America has now developed into a month-long celebration featuring an expanded list of books for all children to see themselves represented and included.

Since Dr. Seuss and his Cat in the Hat continue to be associated with Read Across America, his books are in high demand this month. Here’s a list of our favorites:

Obviously, there’s no one better to suggest favorite read-alouds than our librarians, and BCLS encourages all our customers to read aloud to children this month! Many community members are asked to read aloud to classrooms and these books promise to be a hit, even if they’re shared virtually.

Our ongoing reading challenge on Beanstack, Read Woke From Home, provides fun reading goals to read outside your normal preferences. Use this Beanstack challenge to start educating the whole family through reading diverse books and completing exercises as a group to promote positive discussions about cultures, religions, and races different from your own.

For more book lists featuring diverse characters, cultures and authors, check out the We Need Diverse Books’ resource list. This nonprofit organization encourages publishers to actively choose and promote diverse authors and stories so that all children can see themselves represented.