Waiting Room at Lowell Pediatrics in Lowell, MA.      Stories from the Field Literacy Rich Waiting Areas for Every Budget Would you like to create a fabulous literacy rich environment in your waiting area - even with limited resources? Take a look at some of the creative ideas that ROR sites and coalitions around the country have used. They put shows like "Trading Spaces" and "Design on a Dime" to shame! Furniture A ROR site in Marlborough, MA had cabinets for book storage made for free by students at their local vocational high school. Craigslist.com and Freecycle.com are also great resources for inexpensive or free furniture. Supplies In Michigan, coalition leaders identified a supply company for child care centers and invited them to visit a ROR site. Through that visit, they developed a "shopping list" of items and worked with the company, Lakeshore Learning, to offer a 5% discount on purchases. See if there are similar companies in your area and invite them to see ROR in action! Get "professional" help Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI adopted Reach Out and Read Michigan as the subject of its collaborative studies class for winter 2008 semester. A team of 9 students from all disciplines of design -- including furniture, graphic, textiles, and digital -- prepared recommendations for creating more literacy rich environments for ROR programs. They created layouts using existing furniture and materials as well as designs for new literacy rich waiting rooms. They researched equipment, furniture, and materials that are child-safe, child-sized, environmentally-safe, and meet the unique needs of health care facilities, and recommended cost saving and purchasing opportunities. Explore possible collaborations with colleges and design schools in your area. Many students must document completion of an internship or service-related activities in order to graduate. More Ideas Nora Murphy of the Massachusetts Coalition has developed a great resource that can help you determine what is possible within your budget. Click here for more. There is a wealth of creativity within the ROR community. Share your ideas and find more resources on the myROR forum.   Return