All Illinois children will receive one free book a month for five years. The governor's new program is designed to improve literacy and encourage parents to read to their children.
Here's how it works: parents will receive the first book at the hospital where their child is born. At that time, they will register to receive age-appropriate books in the mail for each month through the year. After five years, children could have 60 books in their libraries plus a dictionary.
The program will cost $26 million in 2005.
