Reading for pleasure can enrich a person’s sense of community. Within online reading communities, like Goodreads, yearly reading goals are set that fall anywhere between 15 to 150 books. Studies have shown that children who read for pleasure are more likely to do better in school overall. But children who grow up in low-income households tend to have significantly less access to literature than their more affluent peers, leading to low-literacy rates.

The most obvious way to increase access to literature in any area these days is through digital readers and online libraries. But solving the problem of access does not increase literacy automatically. To be literate a child also needs to be able to understand what it is they’re reading. In short, we not only need to increase access to books but also aid in developing a child’s reading comprehension. By creating a digital reading aide that is both engaging and rewarding to assist students while involving their parents and teachers, literacy rates in low-income areas will rise.