Helping Migrant Children Through Shared Reading
October 2025 - Mexico City
Rise Up & Read Library Spaces: Building Community Through Shared Reading
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Rise Up & Read library spaces support shared reading and build community across cultures and languages. For children experiencing displacement, life is unpredictable—routines are disrupted, and a sense of safety can be hard to find. Research shows that consistent, nurturing activities—like listening to or sharing stories—can ease stress, support emotional regulation, and help children rebuild a sense of normalcy.
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Migrant centers in Mexico are now home to thousands of children from around the world who speak Spanish, French, Creole, Portuguese, and Mayan. Despite these differences, children consistently bond through Rise Up & Read libraries. While our early focus was on shared reading between caregiver and child, we have come to see that the library also nurtures peer connection—older children teaching younger ones, and groups reading together. In these moments, stories become more than words on a page—they become bridges of empathy, resilience, and hope.