Civic foundations and bookstores promote a love of reading among third graders
Around 660 books in eleven suitcases will once again inspire third-grade students at Darmstadt's primary and special needs schools to read during the 2025/2026 school year. With the "Book Suitcase" educational project, the Darmstadt Citizens' Foundation continues its long-standing collaboration with independent bookstores in the city of science.
The project was launched in 2011 and aims to make it easier for children to access the world of books in an accessible way.
A diverse selection for young readers
For each of the eleven book suitcases, the Bessunger bookshop, the Georg-Büchner bookshop, the Arheilger bookshop, the Lesezeichen bookshop in the Martinsviertel district and the bookshop at the market each provide around 60 children's books.
The selection is made jointly with the teachers of the participating schools. In addition to topicality and diversity of content, pedagogical aspects and the specific requirements of special education schools also play an important role.
Each participating class picks up their book suitcase from one of the participating bookstores and can use the books for four weeks. Afterwards, the suitcases are returned and, if possible, passed directly on to the next class. At the end of the school year, the Darmstadt Citizens' Foundation donates the books to the school libraries.
Reading as an important building block for education
“Promoting education is one of our central foundation purposes. By promoting children’s reading skills, this program directly contributes to that,” explains Dr. Markus Hoschek, Chairman of the Board of the Darmstadt Citizens’ Foundation.
Teachers also see the benefits of the project. Isabel Klischat from the Ludwig-Schwamb-School emphasizes that books are already competing with digital media for young students. The opportunity to take books home allows children to discover reading as a leisure activity independent of lessons and the curriculum.
Positive response from children
The success of the concept is regularly demonstrated by the return of the book suitcases. "The students enthusiastically tell us which books they have read and which stories they particularly enjoyed," reports Imke Karrock from the bookstore at the market.
For many years, the Darmstadt Citizens' Foundation and the participating bookstores have been making an important contribution to promoting reading in Darmstadt with this project, while also strengthening cooperation between schools, bookstores and local educational stakeholders.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PM)
