To paraphrase Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of fourth grade girls can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Here’s a case in point. A group of 4th graders at PS 107 were inspired by the story of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl who was recently shot by a Taliban member in Pakistan, for standing up for the rights of girls to go to school.

In solidarity, they are organizing at Read-a-Thon to benefit Developments in Literacy, a group that educates and empowers underprivileged girls in Pakistan (a representative of DIL will be at the read-a-thon). Girls in grades 1-5 are especially invited to join (but boys & girls, older & younger are welcome too!), and ask family & friends to donate 10 cents or more for every page they read at the read-a-thon.

The event will begin with a short talk by Yalda Atif along with some girls from Women for Afghan Women.  After that, the kids will spread throughout the library to read for as long as they like (they can bring their own books, or pick them up at the library), record the pages read, and then follow up to collect the funds.

Here are the deets:

Girls Read for Girls – Read-a-Thon inpsired by Malala Yousafzai

Saturday, November 3rd * 1 – 4 p.m.

Brooklyn Public Library – Park Slope Branch (6th Avenue & 8th Street)

 Registration, pledge forms & more info at http://girlsreadforgirls.blogspot.com:

Contact: brooklyngirlsreadforgirls@gmail.com