Raising A Reader

Raising A Reader has grown from a local early childhood literacy and family engagement program in California founded in 1999 to a national force that serves over 150,000 children and families annually across 36 states. We collaborate with over 285 Affiliate partners that administer RAR at 3,000 diverse implementation sites including schools, agencies, children and family-focused organizations, churches, migrant and Native American groups, libraries, and even corporations that offer RAR as an employee benefit. Through our national network of Affiliate organizations, Raising A Reader builds the capacity of local partners to engage their families in gaining the skills and resources necessary to... read more Raising A Reader has grown from a local early childhood literacy and family engagement program in California founded in 1999 to a national force that serves over 150,000 children and families annually across 36 states. We collaborate with over 285 Affiliate partners that administer RAR at 3,000 diverse implementation sites including schools, agencies, children and family-focused organizations, churches, migrant and Native American groups, libraries, and even corporations that offer RAR as an employee benefit. Through our national network of Affiliate organizations, Raising A Reader builds the capacity of local partners to engage their families in gaining the skills and resources necessary to develop at-home literacy routines. The strength of Raising A Reader's partnerships is evidenced by its affiliate retention rate of 95%. The children and families Raising A Reader (RAR) engages through our programs have a wide variety of intersecting identities and lived experiences. Over 80% of our children and families are from low-income backgrounds and identify as people of color. As part of our commitment to racial equity and inclusion, RAR understands that our approach to program and service delivery must value, respect and support these identities and experiences. RAR also knows that the COVID-19 crisis has further compounded already disproportionate educational impacts for low-income communities and communities of color. RAR is currently working on multiple efforts driven by its recently developed Race Equity Agenda, which has been board approved and shared with National Affiliate Advisory Council. Some of these efforts are internal and organizationally focused and some externally focused, and all aim to address the impact of racial injustice and inequities on the children and families it serves. Raising A Reader has also developed rich partnerships with national networks and non-profit organizations in support of its mission. RAR is an active partner with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and the National Anchor Partner with Housing and Urban Development for the Book-Rich Environment Initiative. To further its commitment to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and communities of color, RAR has strengthened its partnership with National Black Child Development Initiative (NBCDI) and developed a new partnership with Black Women's Health Imperative. And, to better respond to the needs around distance learning, they have partnered with Lee & Low Books to ensure that our book collection has titles that are not only culturally diverse and provide "windows & mirrors" reflecting the populations we serve, but that our books come from publishers that represent authors and illustrators with shared lived experiences.