raising readers Mark One Million Book Milestone with Barbara Bush!
by Deborah Deatrick, Vice-President of Community Health, MaineHealth
10/9/07
Every month, a truck pulls up to virtually every hospital and doctor's office in Maine, carrying not just tongue depressors and gauze, but a supply of brand new books destined for the state's youngest citizens. When the truck pulled up in front of Dr. Connor Moore's pediatric office in Biddeford this week, it was carrying some even more precious cargo – the one millionth book to be given out by raising readers, a program that promotes health and literacy by giving books to virtually every young child in Maine between birth and age five.
The one-millionth book marks a major accomplishment that former First Lady Barbara Bush helped celebrate today at a special event at Dr. Moore's office. A beloved pediatrician who has cared for Biddeford area children for more than 38 years, Dr. Moore and other Southern Maine Medical Center pediatricians and nurses have supported raising readers since its inception. Mrs. Bush, well-known for her work in Maine and nationally to promote literacy, was on hand to present the special book to Jakob Harriman from Hollis Center, who turned 5 today. Jakob's mother had already planned his annual checkup with Dr. Moore when they found out he would be the lucky recipient.
raising readers is an ambitious effort conceived by Maine's Libra Foundation as a unique strategy to foster a love of reading, improve literacy among babies and young children, and ultimately, improve health and educational outcomes of Maine children. Different from other book giveaways, raising readers is embedded in the health care system and depends on hospitals, doctors, and nurses to discuss the importance of regular reading with parents and family members during regular well-child checkups. Every baby born in Maine receives a bag of new, high quality books before leaving the hospital, along with tips for reading that are designed to help new parents. At each annual checkup thereafter, children receive a beautiful hardcover book – many of them by Maine authors and illustrators – that have been specially selected by a committee of child development and literacy experts. By the time a child "graduates" from raising readers, he or she has a small library of twelve books.
"Research has consistently shown that reading to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers not only fosters a love for books, but increases children's vocabulary and background knowledge – what they know about the world around them," says Sue Reed, director of the Portland Early Literacy Collaborative, an Early Reading First project based at the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. According to Reed, "the comprehension of stories and amount of vocabulary a child has by age 5 is directly connected to reading ability in third grade and beyond. The books children receive through the raising readers programs make this opportunity available to every child in the state."
raising readers is the largest program of its kind anywhere, thanks to the enthusiastic participation of hospitals and virtually every physician office, clinic, and rural health center in Maine's 16 counties that provide well child care. Starting with a few hundred children in Cumberland and Penobscot counties in 2000, raising readers has grown to serve more than 70,000 children every year. More than 139,000 children have received books to date, including about 1,000 babies born every month. The results are impressive: 80% of parents report they read more frequently to their children and 65% of doctors spend more time talking with parents about the importance of reading and role modeling for their children as a result of the program.
The latest national survey of literacy in the US showed that nearly 90 million adults lack the ability to use the health care system effectively, resulting in billions of dollars of unnecessary costs. Programs like raising readers, which work to build reading and literacy skills from the earliest stages of development, can help prevent these problems in the future.
raising readers is the product of a successful collaboration between The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center and Eastern Maine Medical Center and their affiliated health systems, MaineHealth and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems.
