Did you know? • 58% of DC area children from 0 to 5 years live in poverty. • 72% of these children are not read to aloud on a daily basis. • Low-income children hear only half to one-third as many spoken words as children in more affluent households. • Only 50% of low-income 4th graders read at or above the basic level according to the Department of Education. • In 2009 ROR DC distributed more than 50,000 books to 29,000 children throughout the DC metro region. • 11 published medical journals have found that children that participate and complete the ROR program score higher on vocabulary tests. YOUR GIFT WILL BRING A LIFELONG LOVE OF BOOKS AND READING TO THE NEEDIEST CHILDREN IN METRO DC. DONATE 40 DOLLARS AND YOU PROVIDE 10 BOOKS FOR 1 CHILD DURING 5 YEARS!

Welcome!


Reach Out and Read of Metro DC (ROR DC) promotes the love of books and reading to children at an early age to establish the early foundations of literacy. Our mission is to prepare DC area children to be successful in school and reading.

We provide:
• Doctors’ advice to parents on the importance of reading aloud,
• New and used books to children 0 to 6 years old,
• Volunteers to read aloud to children in pediatric waiting rooms.

There are 35 Health Centers in the DC metro area that participate in the ROR program. To find a participating site near you, please click here (the sites are listed on the national website of Reach Out and Read).

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We are currently looking for volunteers to read aloud to children in any one of our 35 sites.

And if you have gently used children's books you want to donate, you can send them to us! ROR DC is always in need of books to give out to pre-K children during their doctor's visit. To find out how, read on!

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Bring Us Your Books!

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Kids all grown up? Moving soon? Minimizing? Whatever the reason, if you have gently used children’s books, you can donate them to us.

For many of our young patients, the books at the reading corners in the doctor's office are their only exposure to children’s literature before they start school. So, help us create literacy rich environments in DC community health centers.

Guidelines for Donations
We need books for pre-school children the most. We have a high demand for “board books” with brightly colored pictures for infants and toddlers. Bi-lingual books, especially in Spanish, are particularly welcome.

Used books are accepted if covers and pages are intact, clean, and readable. We do not accept encyclopedias, textbooks, or books with religious or violent themes or sensitive issues like divorce, abuse or death.

Please e-mail David Niersbach to donate children's books.

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Do You Want To Volunteer?

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Reach out and Reach of Metro DC is looking for volunteers that want to share their love of books and help prepare Metro area children for success in school and in reading, by

• reading aloud to young children in your neighborhood's pediatric health center
• organizing a book donation drive in your community
• planning a fundraising event to buy new books for young readers

At the moment our biggest need is for volunteers to read aloud to children in a pediatric reading corner. Typically, volunteers dedicate an hour or two per week to read aloud to a child or a group of children in one of our 35 participating sites. Volunteer hours can be scheduled on weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings. And some clinics can also schedule volunteer hours on Saturday mornings. Scheduling volunteers hours is quite flexible, depending on your availability and the needs of the clinic.

Before you start, we give you an orientation and training session. What we ask from you is proof of a (negative) TB test and a background check. These two things are required by DC Laws in order to work with young children.

If you would like to help out in any way, please fill-out the ROR DC volunteer application, which is available here. Once you have completed the application, we will inform you about the upcoming volunteer orientation and training session.

More questions about volunteering? E-mail David Niersbach.

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For more information about Reach Out and Read, you can take a look at the national ROR website.

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David Niersbach - Board President
Save the Children

Andrea Anderson, MD- Medical Director
Upper Cardozo Health Center
Unity Health Care, Inc.

Kim Herman MD
Unity Health Care, Inc

Joan Waites

Nicole V. Lang, MD
Washington Pediatric Associates, PC

Lavanya Sithanandam, MD
Takoma Park Pediatrics