2015 Conference
Book Drive
Donate a Children’s Book
Donate a new children’s book or purchase a book onsite from Scholastic
in the exhibit hall.
This year, Reach Out and Read’s 20,000 volunteer
medical providers will distribute 6.5 million new
books to 4 million children at more than 5,000
healthcare locations in all 50 states.
Reach Out and Read began in Texas in October
1999 as part of First Lady Laura Bush’s Early
Childhood Initiative for Texas. The Texas Coalition is housed within the Children’s Learning Institute at UTHealth Houston and serves over 200
active sites.
Doctors and nurses are essentially providing families with a ‘prescription to read’. They
utilize Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model to:
• advise parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children everyday
• give developmentally appropriate books to children from ages 6 months to 5 years old
• utilize the interactions with the books to enhance their assessment of the child’s development
• model effective reading skills through volunteers in waiting rooms
With a special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities, Reach Out
and Read ensures that parents receive the tools they need to foster a love of reading in
their children. Families served by Reach Out and Read read together more often, and
their children enter kindergarten with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills,
better prepared to achieve their potential.
Visit www.rortx.uth.tmc.edu to learn more.
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TASBO REPORT | FEBRUARY 2015