VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - After COVID-19, many children in school experienced a widespread issue with learning loss.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress says only 32% of Georgia’s fourth-graders and 31% of eighth-graders were proficient in reading in 2022. Since then, many changes have been made to the curriculum in Georgia’s public K-12 schools to address learning loss.

Meanwhile, some public schools have cut Black studies from curriculum due to lack of state funding. This has raised more concern for what children are learning and retaining. But in South Georgia, one organization is bringing both issues together by taking a stance on promoting literacy and educating everyone on Black history.

A part of that history is Juneteenth. A holiday that recognizes the day when enslaved people in Texas were declared free two years after the emancipation proclamation was signed.

Dr. Beverley Richardson-Blake, Southside Library Boosters President said, “When you look back in history, folks had no access to a book or learning. It was a freedom they didn’t have. Now we can read, we can watch television, we can do all of those things to promote knowledge...it starts with picking up that book.”

The Southside Library Boosters was created to support the McMullen Southside Library. For 33 years, the organization has been educating children and families on historic moments in black history beyond the names and faces we already know.

WALB’s Brittanye Blake will dive into how in later newscasts.

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