When the school years ends at Dowagiac Union Schools next month, students will be provided with free books to help ease the summer brain drain, and it’s all thanks to a local family and the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation.

Foundation President Michael Rowland tells us the Lyons Family, owners of Dowagiac-based Lyons Industries, started the Lyons Reading Fund in 2021 to aid Dowagiac Union Schools with its goal of improving literacy and reading proficiency throughout all grade levels. Since then, the fund has provided thousands of books to all buildings in the district.

Rowland says a particular focus has been placed on the middle school.

“So the Lyons family has worked with Michigan Gateway Community Foundation and the Dowagiac Union Schools to put together this fund that at the end of every school year, every middle schooler leaves with a book,” Rowland said.

Since 2021, the fund has given more than 1,600 books to middle school students. Teachers work with the students to select the titles.

Rowland says in just a few years, Don Lyons has seen evidence the program’s making a difference.

“Don ran into a student that was early high school, and they had this tattered old book with them, and he said, ‘That’s a great book. I really like that one. It looks like you’ve read it a few times.’ They go, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ And they opened it up, and right inside the front part of the book was a label of the Lyons Reading Fund.”

All students will receive their title prior to leaving for summer break. Rowland says because the Gateway Foundation creates endowments to fund its programs, what started as a generous gift from the Lyons Family can continue on at Dowagiac Union Schools for many years to come.