# Summer Meals and Learning Act of 2024

This bill creates a new federal grant program designed to keep school libraries open during the summer at schools that already serve free lunch to kids. The goal is to combine two things that help struggling readers: access to food and access to books and learning activities.

Here's how it works in practice. Schools that run summer lunch programs—especially those where at least half of younger students (kindergarten through third grade) are reading below grade level—can apply for money to open their libraries during the summer. The federal government would give grants to state library agencies, which would then distribute the money to individual school districts. A school district that gets funding would need to keep its library open and offer reading activities and other learning opportunities to kids who come in for summer lunch. This means a child could eat lunch at school and then spend time in the library reading, participating in literacy programs, or doing other educational activities instead of having nothing to do.

The bill focuses on schools serving younger students with reading challenges because research shows that summer learning loss is a major problem—kids, especially those already struggling with reading, fall further behind when they're out of school for three months. By combining meals (which many low-income families depend on) with library access and structured learning, the bill tries to address both hunger and the "summer slide" in reading skills. The program would run for at least six weeks during the summer and could involve community partners like libraries, nonprofits, or other organizations to help run activities. The bill authorizes $5 million per year for five years to fund these grants.

Summer Meals and Learning Act of 2024

Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. [D-NY-25]

Summer Meals and Learning Act of 2024 This bill directs the Department of Education to award grants to state library administrative agencies to enable them to award subgrants to eligible local educational agencies for summer early reading programs held at schools with a summer lunch site.The program is open to local educational agencies that include schools where&nbsp;at least 50% of the students in prekindergarten through grade 3 are reading below grade level at grade 3&nbsp;or are at risk of reading below grade level at grade 3.&nbsp;