Welcome to Queen's University Chapter's Page!

Live-in for Literacy

Every year, two of our members spend seven consecutive days living, eating, and sleeping in the Joseph S. Stauffer Library with the aim to raise funds and awareness for our international literacy projects and to create awareness for our cause. 

Live-in for Literacy started in 2005 at Queen’s University, when undergraduate students and Queen's University Chapter founders Alvin Shin and Joanna Sue learned that only $5000 was needed to build a school library in Asia and change the lives of thousands of children. Since then, Live-in for Literacy has become a national campaign, with students from schools including York University, Laurentian University and Ottawa University participating in previous years.

FAQs

Q: So do your campers actually sleep in a tent all night in the library for seven whole days?

A: They sure do! Our campers apply for the volunteer position at the beginning of the semester. The two campers then share a tent that is pitched in the lobby of Joseph S. Stauffer library. They eat their meals, do homework, and help to raise funds for and provide awareness about Room to Read to those passing by, all in the library!

Q: Do your campers shower?

A: Yes! The campers use the facilities at the Athletics and Recreation Centre on campus or the house of an executive member that lives close by.

Q: Where do your campers get food?

A: Other members of our executive team cook some meals or purchase food for our campers, so they are always well fed!

Together we will raise more money than we ever could alone and we are so excited for you to come along on our journey to change the world through education.

Why Room to Read?

Room to Read keeps their overhead well below the industry average to maximize the percentage of your contributions that go toward their programs, and they spend their program funds wisely so that missions of children may benefit from their work.

Room to read target two critical milestones during a child's school years that can dramatically impact a child's life and their future generations. They concentrate on literacy learning during first and second grades because once a child reaches third grade without basic literacy skills, it is extremely difficult for the child to catch up. To us this means a child develops both the skills and habits of reading which they believe together contribute to lifelong learning. They also concentrate efforts during a girl's transition into secondary school in sixth and seventh grades when she has a high risk of dropping out of school because wages for girls increase by 15-25% for each additional year a girl remains in secondary school.

If you'd rather send a check, please mail the check to: Room to Read, 465 California St Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94104