you are watching booktv on c-span2. well, if you are of a certain age, you have one of these on your shelves, a dictionary. you've probably looked up words in it throughout your lifetime. but if you are a little bit

younger, chances are you have done it digitally. well, mary french is trying to change that. she is the founder and director of something called the dictionary project. mary, what are you trying to do? >> guest: we want everyone to have a dictionary and we try to give them out looking at understanding the meeting and the meetings at the time and appreciate the language. >> what is the importance to you and having this physical book rather than just typing it in your phone? >> it is an early tool for learning. the technology that we are using today, technology is what drives

the words, that's where the words come from so it's really what holds this together as a society and as a world how we communicate. you have to be able to use different tools to access information. so it is just another tool and narrowly the age that we distribute these dictionaries to children in school. they are more apt to learn from the book than computer or electronic device. i know that it goes both ways, but it's more accessible wherever they go. it benefits them in many ways and has a lot of information. >> what is the importance of the third grade in this case? >> well, when i started this i tried a second grade, fourth,

fifth grade, everything and i even really found third grade was the optimal age because at that point, they are learning to read and then reading to learn. they have such an advantage expanding their education. >> where did the idea for the dictionary project come from? >> in savannah georgia she had to split the limits of her ability to earn money and understand the world around her and what people were saying because she dropped out of school.

when she was working as a crossing guard in savannah at the martin luther king exit off of 95 she thought the children were not bringing books back and forth to school and asked them why and they said because they were not allowed to take the books home from school so she brought everybody a dictionary and told them to use it to help them because she didn't want their life opportunities to be i guess diminished because they didn't have a large vocabulary. and she stamped in each book "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." she used her own money from cleaning houses. i met her and i know that area.

[inaudible] she's had a huge impact on people and it was a great idea to make sure that everybody has a dictionary. >> since 1995 when you founded the project along with french, how many dictionaries have gone out to children? >> over 33,700,000. >> how do you get them out there? >> this project started out with grants and then i spoke to different organizations about this idea because they were intrigued in the idea of the dictionaries and the literacy that is so important to everyone always trying to keep people learning new words and basically from becoming illiterate in schools and so, they took it on as a literacy project. most organizations have two

heavy literacy program. this was an easy program to do and you get the best bang for your buck. you can reach the most people for the amount of money that it costs and it has a very long-term impact. i've been doing this for 25 years. the children in the third grade have gone through college already who initially received dictionaries and to see if they are still using dictionaries or if people think that they are worthwhile those children say they still have their dictionaries and they know where it is. not 100% of them, but they appreciate the gift and for two or three dollars, it had an amazing impact on their lives

the dictionaries you send out, the front page on every one has this. this a dictionary belongs to, and you can write your name right there. why are there eight different versions. go green is one. a student's dictionary and thesaurus. a student's dictionary and animal, why so many different versions? >> i want options. when i first started this and was writing grants, i was handing out a book i found at the dollar store and a lot of teachers didn't like it because it didn't have the words they were looking for. we started looking at other

options for dictionaries and i asked merriam-webster to create books for this program. and i created my own books which mary created with my brother who died a few years ago. that's actually my favorite. we need to do more to protect animals in our world and so we created that to help children understand animals and there's a lot of members in that particular book. it was created by some students who were available i think 14 and 16. >> one of the things in the back

you have each state listed and i opened this to indiana and then you have the population and some of the statistics about the state, but at the bottom it's zoom locations and for the children listed there at the top. can anyone contribute to the dictionary project? >> yes. >> how do they do so? >> we have a website that kind of touches that. they can call our office. any way that you want to contribute or participate, we have thousands of people who volunteer. we are so proud to be part of the good work they do. they do many things and this is one of the things. very grateful for all that they are doing. >> can anyone get the

dictionary? >> absolutely. i don't get phone calls, i get letters. i send them dictionaries when they read their letters they ask usually for a specific type that they are looking for. i have grandmothers who want to give it to their grandchildren. we have all kinds of people who want to give out the dictionaries. we are happy to help out anyone who wants a dictionary we will make sure that they get one.