The Myra Program believes reading together creates bonds and our experience shows these bonds are powerful to foster reading development for children in different contexts.

The initiative was implemented in Brazil in 2016, drawing on an experience that began in Spain. We started out working with public school students in the city of São Paulo who struggled with reading comprehension. In order to do so, we brought together a network of partners and trained volunteers who read with these children one a week, for one hour. These sessions took place, and still do, at the so-called Myra Points: the schools or partner institutions themselves.

Myra with incarcerated mothers

Building on the experience Myra had already developed across its different contexts, in 2025 the program took on a new challenge: bringing reading into the maternal wing of a prison, where women are pregnant or caring for babies up to six months old. Adapted from the methodology originally created for children in schools, this experience treats women deprived of liberty not merely as beneficiaries of a reading activity, but invests in their development as readers and as reading mediators for children.

Through children’s literature and guided sessions led by trained Myra mediators, participants build their own relationship with reading while learning how to share and mediate books. For those who receive visits and choose to read with their children, literature can open moments of dialogue, imagination and affection, sustaining a bond within the constraints of incarceration. The women also write reading reports on the books they read, which are assessed by volunteers trained by Myra and forwarded to the judicial authorities, contributing to sentence remission through reading, as provided for in law.

The initiative began in 2023 and is now developed in Sant’Anna Female Penitentiary, in São Paulo, through a partnership with the Coletivo Remição pela Leitura and Funap (a public foundation tied to the São Paulo state prison administration). Myra recognizes participants as women, mothers and readers with their own histories, and never makes the value of the experience depend on a particular family arrangement, creating a space where literature and culture remain within reach whatever each woman’s circumstances.

We currently have six other Myra experiences involving school children, with the original design, which involves administering an assessment of the students indicated by the school, and pairing them with volunteers who will read with them throughout the year. All tis work is done in partnership with the Myra Points Leaders, who are also trained in the Myra methodology and play a key role in implemeting the program in each territory/context.

Myra Points

Pró-Saber Myra Point

The sessions have been held since 2021 at the Pró-Saber community library in Paraisópolis, on the ouskirts of São Paulo, both online and in person. This institution serves children outside regular school hours and follows the Myra model to recruit volunteers and host sessions.

Trapézio Myra Point

Trapézio is an institution that supports students promoting after-school activities. The sessions have run since 2020 in partnership with a school in Vila Madalena neighborhood, also in São Paulo City. It also relies on the Myra model to recruit volunteers and host the sessions.

FTD Myra Point (São Paulo/SP)

The Myra Program has been part of editorial group FTD Educação’s corporate volunteering program since 2024. The sessions began with children attending a nearby after-school institution and In 2025, with the growing number of volunteers, expanded to two other schools. Myra gives the company a skilled, structured volunteering effort that benefits both the community and its employees.

Instituto Positivo Myra Point (Paranaguá/PR)

In 2026, we piloted the program with another publishing group, recruiting volunteers among both the company’s employees and students preparing for the national university entrance exam. In just four months, the sessions already improved the children’s reading comprehension.

São Sebastião Myra Point

In partnership with the São Sebastião Municipal Department of Education – SP, we began working in this coastside city in 2025, holding both online and in person sessions at local public schools.

Bragança Myra Point

In partnership with the Bragança Paulista Municipal Department of Education – SP, reading sessions began in 2026 at EM Cel. Laudislau Leme, held in person, outside regular school hours.
Across these different experiences, we have seen the power of paired sessions in helping students advance. Assessment results showed that those who attend Myra were able to reduce the gap between themselves and their classmates, avoiding an unfortunately common situation in which difficulties pile up and the student becomes increasingly discouraged — and effectively falls behind on content and readings in other subject areas.

In short, Myra keeps its essence regardless of the context. It strengthens bonds between adults and children through literature and helps everyone grow as readers.

"I try to bring titles that are part of her little world, things she likes, to encourage her. And something that was great in our last training was the tip to try other genres, not to stick so much to novels. And it's working. I'd wanted to go back to volunteering for a long time, and to be closer to children too — it's even useful for my work. It helps me know who I'm talking to when I make a textbook or supplementary reader as well."

Amanda Lenharo di Santis

Whole-child Education and Special Projects at FTD Educação, and Myra volunteer