(WBIR) Educators will tell you if a child is not reading on grade level by third grade, they will likely struggle for the rest of their school careers.
Rosanna Royal has made it her life's work to instill a love of reading in students at an early age to help change the statistics. Even though she's been retired from Knox County Schools for years now, she continues to work with kids at Wesley House Community Center. It serves Knoxville's at-risk children that live in the inner-city neighborhoods with summer and after-school programs.
"It is my passion," said Royal, who volunteers at least once a week, "It's that joy of exposing them to books that can really hook them. There are so many books out there that children don't know about."
Before Ms. Rosanna, organized access to books wasn't readily available for Wesley House students.
"They had a little tiny library about the size of a walk-in closet. We started out just trying to get the books in some kind of an order," she said.
When the Wesley House moved to a much larger facility on Reynolds Street in 2013, she had room to display and organize the donated books. She spent weeks organizing, color coding, and creating a library that completely runs itself.
"I don't even know how we'd be without Ms. Rosanna. The reality is to set up a library like this takes a skill that not everyone in the world has," said Wesley House Executive Director Tim Adams.
"I love the library because I love reading and I like all the adventures in the books," said student Stacy, 10.
"They might not ever get access to the public library just by virtue of not being able to get to it, not having anyone to take them there. They're here everyday and they can come down here to the library and check out a book," Adams said.
But just as important as the library itself are the volunteers, like Ms. Rosanna, who offer encouragement and suggestions.
Rosanna continues to donate her time at least once a week to help kids with their homework, maintain the library, and offer guidance.
"When I think about Ms. Rosanna, I think about nice and kind," said student, India, 8.
The Wesley House operates on donations and volunteers. Visit their website to learn how you can help.
