More than a million magazines in Central Ohio are bypassing landfills to promote literacy in the state, nation and beyond.
MagLiteracy, a national program in operation since 2004, increases literacy by supplying free new and recycled magazines to children, teens and families who have limited access to reading materials. The organization partners with community and humanitarian organizations such as food pantries, schools, shelters and job training, and youth mentoring programs to find and meet literacy needs. The organization is operated entirely by volunteers, including those in the photo above: Ohio State University graduating seniors Sarah Clymer (left), a chemistry major from Lima, and Cameron Allen, an English mayor from Georgia dropping off sorted magazines.
In addition to partnering with hunger relief organizations, MagLiteracy provides magazines to readers through other avenues such as summer feeding and reading programs; literacy councils; schools in Appalachia; children’s learning centers near its office in Madison, Wisconsin; and Comic Books for Kids, which distributed its magazines to 200 children’s hospitals and cancer centers.
Consumers, publishers and retail newsstands donate new and recycled good quality magazines or donate funds so MagLiteracy can provide them to readers at no cost.
In the past year, the program has grown phenomenally, thanks to partnerships with libraries and publishers who have donated pallets of magazines; local nonprofit organizations, including major food pantries, who have welcomed MagLiteracy to set up racks of magazines for children and families who receive their groceries; local residents who donate magazines; and corporations supporting its operations.
“Consumers are passionate about giving their magazines a second life. They and magazine publishers are donating magazines that are now going to families instead of sitting in a warehouse or ending up in a landfill,” said John Mennell, MagLiteracy founder. “These high-quality magazines, including Highlights for Children, National Geographic and other engaging titles, help increase literacy access in underserved communities where reading materials can be difficult to find or afford.”
Publishers, Libraries Step Up Magazine Contributions
Last November, National Geographic donated 41 pallets — more than 200,000 magazines — including National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic History, National Geographic Kids and National Geographic Little Kids.
MagLiteracy in October also received a donation from Highlights for Children: 448,000 publications, including Highlights for Children, High Five and Hello magazines in English and Spanish, as well as more than 300,000 Highlights + Google magazines on internet safety for children.
“These contributions are transformative for literacy efforts, especially in communities with limited access to books and reading materials,” Mennell said.
“National Geographic became aware of the impactful work at MagLiteracy through our printing partner Quad, who has facilitated other donation deliveries,” said John MacKethan, vice president of print operations for National Geographic Partners. “Since this project involved a warehousing change within Quad’s network and relied on their transportation, the choice came very easily.
“Our nonprofit’s mission has always been about the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Magazines are great vehicles for that purpose, on the reader’s timetable,” MacKethan said, adding that rather than being recycled, those extra magazines are now “upcycled” to more readers. “We embraced this opportunity as another way to reach potential readers and increase our fanbase.”
Kent Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, said the company aims to never recycle magazines and, instead, finds partners like MagLiteracy with different needs, uses and capabilities to help it reach as many readers as possible.
“At Highlights, we believe that magazines have an important role in literacy,” said Johnson. “Really, we want to provide children as many different reading options as possible, so they can follow their own interests. And it is great for children to see the adults in their lives model reading and magazines for adults can show children by example.”
“All of us at Highlights are purpose driven,” Johnson said. “We exist to help children become their best selves. Seeing the great work of MagLiteracy boosts our morale, inspires us to keep going, and gives us the gratification of reaching kids through innovative models outside our existing business lines.”
In addition to publishers, MagLiteracy obtains magazines through collaborations with libraries including Columbus Metropolitan Library Friends of the Library, Ohio State University Libraries, Worthington Libraries and Upper Arlington Public Library, which have donated magazines no longer in circulation with their readers.
To distribute the magazines to readers through its partnering programs, MagLiteracy receives substantial logistics and storage assistance from companies including Atrium, Millcraft, Owens Corning, Quad and Royal Paper Stock.
Feeding Readers Through Local Food Banks
MagLiteracy is rapidly expanding operations, installing magazine racks for readers and distributing magazines through summer feeding and reading programs and health programs in partnership with organizations including the Food Pantry Network of Licking County, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, Detroit Public Library, Muskingum County Literacy Council, Reach Out and Read Ohio and Kids’ Book Banks in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
In partnership with Mid-Ohio Food Collective’s Market on Gantz Road, which serves more than 500 households a day, MagLiteracy provides magazines for readers of all ages to select as they scan out with their food.
“When you go to the grocery store and you’re waiting to check out, what do you do? You look at the magazines. It’s very familiar. It helps us to bring them the dignity that we want them to have,” said Rebecca Peacock-Creagh, market manager.
She’s seen children excited to pick out their own magazines to take home for free, and recently a man was trying to choose from among an armful of magazines and was happy to learn he could take them all.
“The other week I had a heartwarming story when I saw a man picking out Good Housekeeping and cross-stitch magazines,” she said. “He saw me looking at him and said, ‘Oh, my wife loves these, and she has cancer.’ So he was taking them home to her.”
“I think we are a perfect match with MagLiteracy,” Peacock-Creagh said, “because we are feeding people food and we want to do that in a dignified manner, and now we are feeding people body, soul and mind. That’s really beautiful.”
From the acquisition of a Kroger store, Mid-Ohio Food Collective donated to MagLiteracy newsstand fixtures now used to provide magazines to Licking Memorial Hospital’s food bank, FPN Market, which serves 700 families each week.
“The customers who visit the FPN Market have been very thankful for this extra resource,” said Holly Slaughter, vice president, human resources and support services, for Licking Memorial Health Systems. “The children especially love to read the Highlights magazine as soon as they walk in the door.”
“With many of our market patrons, there is a correlation between education level and food insecurity,” said Slaughter. “Often, when an individual has a low literacy level, it may lead to lower wages, which can negatively impact access to food.”
Alyssa Shepherd, development director at the Food Pantry Network of Licking County, said families respond excitedly to the availability of magazines in the pantries.
“The Food Pantry Network of Licking County believes in addressing basic needs and while we primarily focus on food insecurity, our partnership with MagLiteracy allows us to increase access and provide resources and tools for improving literacy,” Shepherd said.
“There’s so much meaning behind the access to magazines. Magazines provide access to information, entertainment, education and convenience to our families,” Shepherd added. “This program offers families in our communities a unique experience and introduction to reading material they may not otherwise encounter.”
Completing the Magazine Recycling Circle
Now, MagLiteracy has launched a new major magazine recycling effort to further promote sustainability: Magazines beyond what are currently needed by the programs served are sent to a paper mill, with logistics assistance from Royal Paper Stock, to be recycled into new magazines. This recycling effort not only keeps tons of materials out of landfills, but it also generates funds for MagLiteracy to deliver other donated magazines to new readers.
“We’ve already sent off our first 20 tons back to the paper mill instead of the landfill,” Mennell said.
“We know that print reading materials, and especially magazines, have superpowers for literacy. It’s been demonstrated that when you learn something through print media, it improves reading comprehension and retention. Print materials are superior, especially for young children, for education,” Mennell said. “What we’re doing and the way we’re doing it is the best of all worlds. It’s the best way to educate and the best way to recycle to feed more materials to magazines.”
Joan Slattery Wall is a volunteer communications professional for MagLiteracy.