Testimonials
Testimonials
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
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Reading Ready Pittsburgh
supporting families to foster a love of reading
Reading Ready Pittsburgh believes in the power of family book sharing to ensure all children are ready to thrive in school.
By increasing access to books and encouraging significant family engagement, we work to guarantee that all families have the tools and resources they need to support their children.
All children deserve full book shelves.
More than 312,000 books given away to date!
Deon's Story
Deon, a former professional football player turned early literacy advocate, shares his story about learning how to read as an adult so he could be a part of his daughter's own journey of reading.
Our Recent News
Fairytale Storytime
Once upon a time... that is, this past Saturday, April 11, we had our fairytale storytime and just look at these super cute photos! Many thanks to all the families who came through to hear some stories, explore our space, and participate in our planned activities. We hope you had a blast, and -- if these pictures are any indication -- it looks like y'all did. Hope to see everyone again real soon!
Music Storytime
with You Be You Music
We had nearly 40 kids come by on the 21st to see Georgia English of You Be You Music do her musical storytime. Many songs were sung, snacks were eaten, and crafts were ... crafted! Thank you all for coming out to support both her and us!
Kelly Starling Lyons Visit
Award winner children's author Kelly Starling Lyons came to B is for Books and hosted two storytimes on February 28. It was awesome! We get phenomenal authors in here a lot, but we've never had someone so famous before. Plenty of families came by to hear her read and get their free, new books autographed by her. Afterward, the kids got to participate in a bread kneading activity to connect with Lyons' book My Hands Tell a Story.
Educator Night
Over 25 educators came to B is for Books on February 18 for educator night. The evening featured PQAS credit and lots of free books given away. Rebecca Chrystal of Raising a Reader (our rotating bookbag program) was the guest speaker and lectured on how to engage families through diverse books. Can't wait to do it again sometime!
Where Has the Time Gone?
A lot has happened since our last update here, so let's fill you in!
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We had our Celebration of Families in November, and plenty of folks came and had their portraits taken -- some for the very first time.
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Local author Michael Roth came by and did a storytime and brought his therapy dog with him.
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For the winter solstice our very own Kathy and Sophia created all the puppets to perform a Three Billy Goats Gruff shadow puppet show. Kids got to make their own puppets afterward.
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​And, finally, just last week we launched our Baby Book Club at the bookstore! It happens the first and third Thursday every month. Come check it out!
Halloween Hoopla 2025
We had an absolute BLAST this past Saturday, October 25, at our second Halloween Hoopla event. Well over 60 children attended, heard stories, decorated pumpkins, and took home lots and lots of free books. Hope you can make it next year!
B is for Bookbash
So the B is for Bookbash this last Saturday was, well, a total BASH! We had somewhere around 100 or more families come through the Carnegie Library of Homestead in just a mere 3 hours. Thank you so much to our partners who helped us make this day a true success. Crafts were made; stories were read; snow cones and snacks were eaten; school supplies and books were gifted; and faces were painted. And, of course, much more happened but we'll leave it at that for now! Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone!!
B is for Bugs Day
Reading Ready Pittsburgh hosted the Carnegie Museum of Natural History at B is for Books on Saturday, July 12, for a day filled with creepies, crawlies, and lots of fun activities. Kids and families got to see insects of all different shapes and sizes, eat some "dirt", and take plenty of bug books to learn more at home.
