San Jose

READERS ARE LEADERS

Established 2007

The purpose of Readers Are Leaders is to instill the love of reading in young students by having volunteers read in their classrooms on a regular basis.
Click here for the 2025-2026 Readers Are Leaders Book List.
Click here to learn about the history of Readers Are Leaders.

Readers Are Leaders volunteers entertain, enlighten and encourage the students as they read quality, age-appropriate literature to them including books about science, biographies and fiction. On each visit members read two books that are then donated to the classroom library along with enrichment activities to help increase the students’ interest and understanding of the books we have read.

During the holiday season each student is gifted a book of facts about various topics. Several other times each year, each student also receives a paperback book. At the end of the school year, every student receives books to keep and read over the summer. Any extra books that remain at the end of each school year are donated to the Pediatric Library at Valley Health Center in San Jose. Today’s readers are tomorrow’s leaders!

Assistance League of San Jose established a partnership with San Jose’s main Martin Luther King library in downtown San Jose. Senior Librarians work with our Readers Are Leaders program to source books for consideration prior to each school year. This process of sourcing through the library is sustainable and repeatable and we are very excited to have the support of the library’s resources and expertise.

Thank You from Our Program Partners

“To all the volunteers at the Assistance League of San Jose, please know that your efforts extend far beyond the walls of our classrooms. You are instrumental in instilling a lifelong love for reading and learning in our students. Your kindness and unwavering support are truly invaluable to us, and we are immensely grateful to have you as cherished members of our school community.”

Kareen Rivas, 2nd grand teacher, Ryan STEAM Academy

“I absolutely love the idea of different activities accompanying the books, and that they are translated in Spanish so parents and families can get involved in the reading too.”

Katsuri Basu, Principal, Lyndale Elementary School

“I so appreciate our partnership over the years and also appreciate the additional money that I could use to buy books as well. I look forward to the readers visiting in person as that is such a huge part of the gift – seeing readers who are passionate to share books with students.”

Dedra Downing, 2nd grade teacher, Stipe Elementary