Dear Reach Out and Read Supporters,

Yesterday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an exciting new national effort to promote early literacy in pediatrics.

Reach Out and Read's own Brian Gallagher and representatives from Scholastic and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) joined Secretary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Denver to launch a partnership aimed at raising awareness among parents about the importance of early language development. Clinton's Too Small to Fail initiative is also involved in the partnership.

For the first time, the AAP has published a formal policy statement promoting books and literacy guidance as an essential part of pediatrics, from the start of a child's life.  The AAP's policy statement is a true validation of the work we are doing at Reach Out and Read to encourage families to read together and develop critical early literacy skills in children before they enter pre-school and kindergarten.     

To bring this statement to life, our longstanding partner Scholastic is donating 500,000 new children's books to Reach Out and Read clinics across the country.  Thanks to this generous gift, more families will be able to make reading aloud a daily activity.