WASHINGTON, DC - A new bill before Congress seeks to ensure that children coming in for a health check-up will leave the doctor's office with more than the typical parting gift of a lollipop: they'll also get a free book too. Under a new, five-year $85 million initiative authored by U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), doctors and nurses will 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. Reed's Prescribe a Book Act (S.1895), cosponsored by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), would create a federal pediatric early literacy grant initiative based on the long-standing, successful Reach Out and Read (ROR) program.

"When parents read to their kids it increases the probability of healthy child development. This initiative will help more doctors encourage parents to read to their children and give them the tools to get started," said Reed, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. "The Reach Out and Read model is a proven success. It builds on the special relationship between parents and medical providers and encourages early literacy skills so children enter school prepared to learn and succeed."

Reach Out and Read is a national, non-profit organization that trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud and gives books to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age, with special focus on children growing up in poverty. The program targets low-income and underprivileged communities. Nationally, the program reaches more than 2.8 million children, distributing over 4.6 million free children's books annually.

In Rhode Island, Reach Out and Read provides books to children in 40 clinical locations across the state. Reach Out and Read RI distributes nearly 50,000 new, developmentally appropriate books to over 28,000 Rhode Island children annually. Senator Reed's legislation will allow ROR to expand to more families, including military families.

"Reach Out and Read RI would like to thank Senator Reed for his work as a long-time champion of the Reach Out and Read program for Rhode Island's children as well as children nationally," said Maria Cassaday, Executive Director of Reach Out and Read Rhode Island. "Senator Reed's commitment to Reach Out and Read strengthens our goal to make early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care."

Since Reach Out and Read was founded in 1989, more than 46,000 doctors, nurses, and health care providers have been trained in the program and collectively distributed more than 20 million books to children nationwide. One book is given to each family at well-child visits, with the goal of giving children 10 developmentally and culturally appropriate books by the time they enter kindergarten.

Reach Out and Reed received $5.9 million in federal funding last year. Reed's bill would authorize $15 million in fiscal year 2009, $16 million in FY 2010, $17 million in FY 2011, $18 million in FY 2012 and $19 million in FY 2013.