Pittsburgh leaders renew call for a community-wide literacy effort

Pittsburgh educators, librarians and community leaders renewed a call for shared action on children’s literacy at the city’s second Children’s Literacy Summit on Saturday. The gathering at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Homewood branch focused on how families, schools and local organizations can help children build reading skills.

The push comes as roughly 44% of third graders in Pittsburgh Public Schools were proficient in reading during the 2024-25 school year, according to the most recent state data. First Lady Katie O’Connor told attendees that giving families access to books and learning resources can help parents support their children’s futures.

What local groups are doing

Organizations including the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania and United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh presented their work at the summit. Their efforts include taking students on library crawls, expanding tutoring, giving out books at doctor’s appointments and holding read-aloud events.

The summit builds on a question posed at the first gathering last September: Whose job is children’s literacy? Carnegie Library president Andrew Medlar said the question led participants to recognize that literacy is everyone’s responsibility. This year, organizers asked whose job it is now, and Medlar repeated the call to action: get a library card, keep books at home, model reading and read together every day.

Why funding is part of the discussion

State Sen. Lindsey Williams said the programs and resources that support reading require funding. She pointed to school libraries, reading specialists and special education as areas where investment could make a difference, while warning that schools are often forced to move money to meet required expenses at the cost of other important programs.

Williams said schools need funding that covers the resources students need to learn, not only state and federal mandates. Medlar described improving children’s literacy as a long-term effort and said attendees left with renewed enthusiasm and a sense that they were not working alone.

This report draws on information from 90.5 WESA.