WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to promote childhood literacy, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), today reintroduced the Prescribe a Book Act. The bipartisan bill would provide for competitive funding aimed at helping doctors and nurses provide low-income parents with a children’s book to take home at every wellness visit, along with advice about the importance of reading aloud to their child and age-appropriate reading tips. 

“Literacy is the foundation for learning -- not just in school but for lifelong learning.  When kids love to read they have a better chance to succeed.  Helping young people learn to read is one of the most important things in terms of getting them on the right path, and helping them develop the skills they’ll need to be successful throughout their lives,” said Reed.  “This legislation is about empowering parents to make a difference with their kids through reading and providing them with high-quality books to get started.”

“Research shows that reading aloud to children from an early age is vitally important to their development.  Programs that get books in the hands of parents and young children have a tremendous impact on kids who are in danger of falling behind, even before they reach school age,” Grassley said.  “These programs may be the difference in a child’s entering school at an equal level as his or her classmates or starting behind from the beginning.”

The Reed-Grassley Prescribe a Book Act would create a federal pediatric early literacy grant initiative modeled on the long-standing, successful Reach Out and Read program.  Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based, national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud at regular pediatric checkups.  The model includes providing a carefully-selected, new, age-appropriate book for each child to take home from every checkup from 6 months through 5 years.

Nationwide, Reach Out and Read doctors and nurses served 4.2 million children and their families last year.  The organization distributed over 6.4 million books at 5,000 pediatric practices, hospitals, clinics, and health centers in all 50 states, targeting those centers which serve children at socioeconomic risk.

There are 45 Reach Out and Read sites in Rhode Island, which serve over 27,500 children annually and distributed more than 54,000 books last year.

In Iowa, the program currently has 104 sites where it distributed over 97,200 books last year to more than 61,600 children across the state.

The Reed-Grassley pilot program would leverage federal dollars to expand pediatric literacy initiatives so that more young children reap the developmental benefits of having books at home and being read to by their parents.  Under the bill, federal grants would be awarded on a competitive basis to high-quality non-profit entities to train doctors and nurses to discuss with parents the importance of reading aloud to their children and to give books to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age, with a priority for children from low-income families. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recognized the important role that pediatric providers play in enhancing children’s literacy skills.  Research published in peer-reviewed, scientific journals has found that parents who have participated in the Reach out and Read program are significantly more likely to read to their children and include more children’s books in their home, and that children served by the program show an increase of 4-8 points on vocabulary tests.  These effects have been found in ethnically and economically diverse families nationwide, according to Reach Out and Read.

Results from a recent Scholastic survey underscored the need for this type of initiative.  Only 30 percent of parents reported reading aloud to their children before the age of three months  and just under half of the parents from the lowest income households reported receiving advice on reading to their children starting at birth compared to nearly three-quarters of the highest income households.

Federal grant funding for Reach Out and Read through the U.S. Department of Education helped build a successful public-private partnership that has been matched by tens of millions of dollars from the private sector and state governments.  The Prescribe a Book Act would establish a formal authorization for activities modeled on this type of successful partnership.

U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) will introduce companion legislation in the House.

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