Her name isn’t listed on the Make Way board, but it should be on the timeline.

“If you ask me which book really inspired me as a reader, it was definitely ‘Nancy Drew,'” said Mary Jean Bancroft, the organization’s founder and first president. . “When I was a little girl, I never really read for fun until I read ‘Nancy Drew’ for the first time. She was a smart, brave young woman, and I loved her. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by the power of books.”

It ended up being so good for the kids in Tucson.

Since opening in 1998, Make Way for Books has donated approximately 750,000 books to kindergartens and preschoolers here. Influencing over 30,000 children a year, and as the agency celebrates her 25th anniversary, how much we owe her Make Way and the woman who opened that door in the first place. I am reminded of the

“If it wasn’t for Mary Jean, we wouldn’t be here,” said executive director Ithel Saravsky. “It’s that simple.”

To understand Mary Jean Bancroft, know the following: After co-founding her Make Way for Books with her husband Paul in 1998, she served as the program’s director for her 15 years as an unpaid volunteer.

It was Bancroft who networked with kindergartens and daycare providers in Tucson. She wrote grants, solicited donations, and bought books.

Unlike literary heroines, Bancroft was real and real.

Building on the foundation she funded 25 years ago, Make Way now has 33 staff, a budget of $2.5 million, and plans to expand its service to communities across Arizona over the next five years.

“I am very proud of this situation as we remember what it was then and see what it is now,” she admitted. “Not just for me, but for all of us.”

Bancroft, now retired and 69, came to Tucson from Reno in 1997. There she was a faculty member in the English Department at the University of Nevada. Her specialty is teacher preparation.

She was intrigued by the research she began seeing in the 1990s that showed the importance of pre-kindergarten programs in a child’s ultimate success in school.

“Early childhood education was a fairly new field at the time,” says Bancroft. “We knew how much lifelong learning happened in a child’s first eight years. We didn’t know how much of it happened until we were five.”

Back in 1997, she arrived in Tucson and began volunteering at Pio de Simo Preschool south of downtown.

“I wasn’t ready to go back to work,” recalls Bancroft. “That’s when I saw an ad for Pio de Simo. I was looking for volunteers to read to a 4-year-old in kindergarten. There weren’t any books in. How would they learn to read without books?”

Yes, she was worried about the children she had just met in the city she was just beginning to get to know. More importantly, she was determined to help them.

Bancroft soon learned about a Chicago nonprofit called Hug-a-Book, which donates books to kindergartens and teaches teachers how to use them.

Adopting that model, Mary Jean and Paul launched Make Way for Books, the first of which was Pio de Simo. The Bancrofts donated a library of picture books. They hired Hug-a-Book staff to help guide teachers.

Thus began this wonderful little place that helped change the face of public education in Pima County. It’s no coincidence that every school district in Southern Arizona now has a program that promotes early childhood education.

It’s tempting to count the numbers, but it’s true that Make Way for Books has been growing for 25 years. Perhaps more importantly, the Make Way program has also gone deeper.

Originally founded to support kindergartens and licensed preschools, Makeway learned that the majority of Tucson 4-year-olds are being cared for at home with their parents, family and friends. Determined to reach out to these children, she launched Story School, an initiative to provide programs to home care providers who gathered at libraries and community centers throughout the county.

Knowing that thousands of Tucson families speak a language other than English in their homes, Makeway began offering bilingual children’s books. “We thought that mothers should say ‘I love you’ to read to their children,” Bancroft said.

Research has shown that reading to babies has a range of benefits as they grow, so Make Way launched “Baby Books” to help parents with children under the age of three. Added.

“Our employees have always been educators and librarians,” Bancroft said. “We’ve tried to be nimble. We’ve tried to help when we see a need.”

That spirit continues today and extends to communities throughout Arizona.

Mr. Bancroft retired 10 years ago and handed over the keys to assistant director Jenny Volpe. Since then, Bancroft has traveled, read, spent time with his two daughters, and ran two marathons.

Thus she returned to retirement.

“After I left Make Way for Books, someone said the Tucson Marathon that year would be my 60th birthday. I actually had time to train.”

For the record, to no one’s surprise, she ran away.

Make Way’s second Executive Director, Jenny Volpe, led the move from the organization’s former location, East Fort Lowell Road, to its current address of 700 N. Stone Ave.

Isel Saravsky moved from the University of Arizona to the director’s office in January. She will coordinate the expansion of the agency to the rest of Arizona. Make Way for Books already has satellite offices in Chandler and Avondale. Saravsky hopes to add a third in Phoenix later this year.

For more information about Make Way for Books, please visit: makewayforbooks.org Or call us at 520-398-6451.