The Marisa Antonini Reading Initiative for Success and Achievement (MARISA) will address a critical need for literacy support for children and teens across the city, enhancing and expanding services for emerging and struggling readers, including those with learning differences and disabilities, like dyslexia.
MARISA funding will allow LAPL to create new, innovative, research-driven programs and adapt existing LAPL youth literacy services that currently reach tens of thousands of children and families annually through community-centered events, hands-on workshops, and other educational services.
LAPL’s Youth Services Department, which oversees the cornerstone We Read Together and Future Ready Teens initiatives, will lead the project through 2026. New funding supports contracting a literacy research specialist and training consultant to assess how inclusive LAPL’s programs, materials, and spaces are for neurodivergent youth or youth with learning and developmental disabilities; collaborate with the Library’s Los Angeles Unified School District liaison to strengthen partnerships with schools; and collect staff and community feedback to guide the program’s design.
MARISA will also support LAPL’s ongoing youth literacy services for children and teens. This includes a program that educates and empowers parents to support their babies’ early-literacy development; a program where volunteers from the community engage children in one-on-one and small group reading activities; and Student Zones—an expansive service that offers in-person, after-school homework help at 37 branch libraries across the city. The funding also encompasses expenses such as program materials, library furnishings to make youth spaces more accessible and inclusive, and honoraria for presenters.
This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of:
- Marisa Antonini Foundation
