(Live 5 News)
Reach Out and Read is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring every child’s cognitive, social, and emotional well-being by incorporating books into pediatric care. Deb LaRoche, a Program Manager at Reach Out and Read South Carolina, shares how this unique program works, where children visiting the doctor’s office receive age-appropriate, beautifully illustrated, high-quality books. These books not only help alleviate anxiety and fear often associated with medical visits, but also serve as valuable tools for medical professionals to monitor developmental milestones and promote daily reading between parents and children. The best part? The child gets to take the book home, fostering a love for reading and building their home library.
With a network of 6,000 clinics nationwide and 26 in the Tri-County area of South Carolina alone, Reach Out and Read has distributed over 7.1 million books in just the past year. This Live 5 News interview covers how you can support this vital initiative and help connect more clinics to this program, ensuring that every child has access to the enriching world of books. Explore the application process for clinics interested in becoming partners and gain insights into the orientation and training provided to medical professionals to make this program a success.
(Video credit: Live 5 News)