Our Vision
A world where every child has the relationships essential to learn and thrive.
Our Mission
Strengthen all families with young children through guidance from medical clinicians about nurturing relationships through shared reading.
For more than 35 years, Reach Out and Read has turned pediatric checkups into one of the nation’s most powerful tools for equity and connection — helping parents and children build trust, strengthen language skills, and nurture emotional health from birth.
Our Values
We serve
4.6 million children
across the country
Our network of pediatric teams provides families at routine check-ups with the knowledge and tools they need to make reading a part of their daily routine. By integrating reading aloud into pediatric care, we reach 4.6 million children across the country — nearly 70 percent of whom come from low-income families.
Together, we can make reading a part of every child’s life and help provide all young people with a foundation for success throughout their lives.
Our History
Reach Out and Read was founded in 1989 to help families make reading a part of their routines, and to supply the books they need to get started. Since those early days at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), we’ve grown dramatically: We’re now in all 50 states, with 6,500 program sites that provide 7.7 million books each year.
“Every child should have the head start of a book of their own. Every parent should learn the importance and joy of reading to their child.”
Reach Out and Read has been widely recognized for our work.
The American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP) has officially endorsed the Reach
Out and Read model since 1998.