REACH OUT AND READ INC

Reach Out and Read is the only national early literacy organization working directly with clinicians to share the lifelong benefits that result from families reading aloud to their children every day. We know that nurturing, language-rich interactions like reading aloud together give young children a foundation for success. By integrating these experiences into pediatric care and providing the tools and encouragement families need to read aloud together, we can transform pediatric care and give children of all backgrounds and means a better start to life.

The Reach Out and Read program begins in infancy and continues through age five, with a special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities. Clinicians provide new, developmentally and language-appropriate books and share literacy advice with children and parents at each well-child visit.

The program is both cost-effective, and evidence-based: research shows that Reach Out and Read results in more frequent reading at home, more enjoyment by families reading together, and accelerated language development. Our model is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for both literacy development and the prevention of toxic stress.

We are strengthening relationships by building moments that matter for children and their families through the power of reading together. Our goal is for every young child and their family to access early relational health and foundational literacy supports through pediatric primary care.

Reach Out and Read seeks to give all children an opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and society, particularly those facing systemic barriers to their ability to thrive. We do this with an equity lens that places our work at the center of tackling those systemic obstacles.

Our evidence-based model promotes positive, language-rich interactions and shared reading between parents/caregivers and their young children from birth to 5 years. These interactions support the early relationships that are the foundation for healthy development and long-term health and well-being.

Our model is implemented through pediatric primary care, which has unparalleled access to children in the critical early months and years of a child’s life and achieves change through the established parent-clinician relationship.

Our work is to ensure that clinicians are equipped to deliver our model with fidelity and effectiveness for the diverse range of families and children we serve.

Our strategies are to strengthen our impact through integrating the Reach Out and Read model into pediatric care as a standard of care. We will deepen our impact by positioning Reach Out and Read as a critical player in a cross-sector framework that brings together support from sites and surrounding communities to offer universal and individualized support for the foundational early relationships that define the trajectory of a young child’s life.

Reach Out and Read is the only national early literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Reach Out and Read’s model has also been endorsed by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP). NAPNAP formed an alliance with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to advise and support the use of Reach Out and Read’s model by their members.

Reach Out and Read has been recognized with the Nicholas Kristof Holiday Impact Prize (2019, 2024), the 2014 Carle Angel Honor, the 2013 American Hospital Association Award of Honor, 2013 David M. Rubenstein Prize from the Library of Congress, and the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy (2007), among others. In the last two years, the organization has landed its two biggest gifts, $8 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and $6 million from Valhalla Foundation.

Reach Out and Read has the highest possible rating of Four Stars on Charity Navigator, as well as a Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency. We also have transparency-certification from Excellence in Giving for sharing more data about governance, finance, strategy, and impact than required by the IRS.