Reach Out and Read Northwest

A world where every child is read to every day.

Reach Out and Read is a national nonprofit that champions the positive effects of reading daily and engaging in other language-rich activities with young children. Reading together promotes healthy brain development, furthers language acquisition, and helps families build meaningful bonds.

About Reach Out and Read

Founded in 1989, Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization working to ensure all families have the opportunity to create meaningful everyday moments through shared reading aloud and building relationships. By leveraging pediatric care to champion the positive effects of reading daily and distributing books, Reach Out and Read gives young children a foundation for success and reaches 4.2 million children across the country – half of whom identify as BIPOC and a quarter of whom come from low-income families.

Reach Out and Read’s trained pediatric providers use books as a diagnostic tool during regular check-ups and teach parents how to engage their child with a book to promote positive parent-child interactions during the rapid brain growth between birth and age five. The daily practice of reading aloud with a parent supports children’s literacy and math skill development, their social-emotional development, and prepares them for future success in school. Working together with over 6,000 clinics and 33,000 medical providers, we leverage our three decades of expertise, build on our literacy foundations, and engage our shared networks as a catalyst for change, focusing on equitably strengthening and deepening our impact on the children, families, and communities we serve.

Reach Out and Read is the only national early literacy intervention delivered through pediatric care providers. The program has been the subject of over 20 independent studies, the largest body of scientific research for any psychosocial intervention in pediatrics. Research shows that children served by Reach Out and Read are read to more often, enjoy sharing books more, and have better expressive and receptive language skills.

Reach Out and Read Northwest (Oregon, Washington)

Reach Out and Read Northwest reaches 200,000 families and provides over 330,000 books annually through 3,200 medical providers in over 400 clinics. 62% of children served are from families with low-incomes, 42% are children of color, and 21% speak a home language other than English.

To learn more about Reach Out and Read, visit www.reachoutandread.org.