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Reading Ready Pittsburgh partners with childcare programs and community organizations to offer literacy programs to foster a love of reading with Pittsburgh's youngest readers. Reading Ready Pittsburgh supporting families to foster a love of reading To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key. 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! What We Do B is f or Books Free C hildren's B o okst o re Raising a Reader Dolly Parton's Imagination Library ParentPowered Community Outreach Little Giveaway Libraries 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! 1/7 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! 1/3 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 . 1/7 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! 1/6 Where Has the Time Gone? A lot has happened since our last update here, so let's fill you in! We had our Celebration of Families in November, and plenty of folks came and had their portraits taken -- some for the very first time. Local author Michael Roth came by and did a storytime and brought his therapy dog with him. 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. 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! 1/8 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! 1/10 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!! 1/11 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. 1/9

Read about Reading Ready Pittsburgh in the news. RRP Previous Newsletters 2026 2025 2024 2023 January February March April May January February March April May June July August September October November December January February March April May June July August September October November December January February March April May June July August September October November December

Implementer Resources For All Implementers Photo Release Form Information for Parents Book Bag Return Reminder Book Bag Rotation Log Volunteer Form For Sites Book Bag Rotation Logistics - Sites Rotation Recommendations - Site Kick Off Ideas - Sites Family Agreement Signature Page Family Book Bag Rotation Letter Make Literacy A Part Of Your Day Book and Book Bag Care Family Reading Bookmarks For Home Visitors Book Bag Rotation Logistics - Visitor Rotation Recommendations - Visitor Kick Off Ideas - Visitor Parent Send Home Reminder Classroom Bag Reminder (Poster) Raising a Reader Videos RAR Family Introduction Video Bag Inventory Check

How to get involved with Reading Ready Pittsburgh. Get Involved There are tons of volunteering opportunities for you at Reading Ready Pittsburgh. Look below for just a few of them. There are many more not listed here! Want to sign up to volunteer? Fill out this form , and Mark will be in touch. Build a Little Library If you have the skills to build little libraries, please reach out to help us increase access to books through our Little Giveaway Libraries for young readers! We are seeking volunteers to read to small children in their childcare programs. If you would like to read to groups of small children on a monthly basis please contact us. Read in a Classroom (as needed) We always have tasks that need to be completed like cleaning books, prepping programming materials, wrapping books, and whatever else that might come up that week. Help Around the Bookstore Donate Books or Host a Book Drive Do you have children's books that need a new home or want to host a book drive? Consider helping Reading Ready Pittsburgh and B is for Books! Book Bag Support Do you get excited to organize and laminate? We do! Help us get our classroom book bags ready to go for our newest partners. Purchase Birthday Books Each child in our programming receives a brand new book each year for their birthday. Would you like to help us with that?

Raising a Reader CLICK HERE FOR IMPLEMENTER RESOURCES Raising a Reader is a national organization with a mission to engage caregivers in a routine of book-sharing with very young children starting at birth. Book-sharing fosters brain development, relationships, a love of reading, and literacy skills that are critical for school success. Over 1,800 children enrolled in 64 sites around the Mon Valley and city! How Raising a Reader Works Reading Ready Pittsburgh connects with interested local childcare programs. Red book bags are rotated weekly into children’s homes exposing children to over 100 award-winning books per rotation cycle. Book bag rotation is paired with parent training and information on how to effectively share books to promote children’s early literacy skills and love of learning. Through the Raising a Reader program, families of Pre-K, Kindergarten, or 1st grade students are connected with their local public library. Their reading progress from the weekly book rotations is celebrated at a Blue Bag Event. At the event, students receive a Blue Library Bag, meet a librarian, and are encouraged to register for library cards to continue the practice of borrowing books and develop lifelong reading habits. "I think the Raising a Reader program makes book access easier and helps with my child's development and reading skills." Parent of 1 year old "I love this program! It showed me so many great books for my kids. It allows us to show new stories each week without the pressure of buying and is so easy by having them provided by the school. It is a great program." Parent of 3 year old "I really enjoyed receiving the red bags ... there was always a WOW factor on what books were inside. We took our family reading outside of the home .. we read during her sister's soccer practice, at the park. The red bags have impacted my family reading in a positive way." Parent of 4 year old What parents are saying about Raising a Reader Our Raising a Reader Sites Are you interested in offering Raising a Reader to the children and families in your center? Contact Megan! megan@readingreadypittsburgh.org | (412) 352-7488

Reading Ready Pittsburgh's guiding council of local families, business owners, and stakeholders. Early Literacy Community Council Reading Ready Pittsburgh knows that we are stronger together. That's why we're bringing together community members who are passionate about early literacy to create a literacy dream world. The Early Literacy Community Council is guided by its mission of working to develop a strong early literacy foundation for families in the Mon Valley and to foster a literary community where everyone can succeed. The Early Literacy Community Council is comprised of parents, community members, librarians, and other professionals who want to make an impact on early literacy in the Mon Valley. Together, we’ve determined four priorities: Increasing access to books Providing parent support around early literacy Developing creative partnerships and collaborations Communicating the benefits of literacy for babies and small children Members: Terri Banks Daye Campbell Holly Cherpak Megan Chips Kate Coluccio Mary Denison Glenn Ford Sophia Garbos Kennethia Harris Chardaé Jones Lynn Kawaratani DaMarra King Katie Kohlmiller Kathy Koltas Barrie Lang Carl Lewis Chary Lyons Markeya Lowry Joelisa McDonald Stephanie McGuigan Hayley Rabich Mark Sepe Gigi Stephens Stefanie Wielkopolan Valerie Williams Hannah Zibert Contact Megan at megan@readingreadypittsburgh.org for more information.

Community Partners ClairtonPublic Library Clairton City School District Woodland Hills Impact Center Family Care Connections Phila nthropic Support The Cahouet Foundation Trust Drue and H. J. Heinz II Charitable Trust First Presbyterian Church of Duquesne Howard & Nell E. Miller Foundation W I Patterson Charitable Fund Earl Knudsen Charitable Foundation

Birthday Book Gifting Our Birthday Book Gifting program allows participating sites to gift each child in their childcare program an age appropriate, high quality book on their birthday. Birthday Book Gifting brings joy to children on their birthday and provides families quality books for their home library. How you can help: Purchase your favorite book(s) and send them to Reading Ready Pittsburgh. We'll wrap and deliver them fo r you! Questions? Email Ka thy Buy Local from these Pittsburgh Book Sellers: Send to: Reading Ready Pittsburgh Birthday Book Gifting Program 222 East 8th Avenue Homestead, PA 15120 Baby Preschool You can also shop from our wish lists!

Read about Reading Ready Pittsburgh in the news. Reading Ready Pittsburgh in the News Check out the links below to see some newsworthy items about our organization Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh brings community together for Children's Literacy Summit (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Books and beyond: Screen-free ways to build early literacy at home (Kidsburgh) Reading Ready Pittsburgh helps kids and parents develop a love of books (KDKA) 9 Unique Things to Do in Pittsburgh, PA: Add These To Your Steel City Itinerary (RentBlog.) Reading Ready Pittsburgh: this local nonprofit offers free books for kids, story times and more (Kidsburgh) Free Children’s Bookstore Opens in Pittsburgh (Publishers Weekly) Reading Ready Pittsburgh turns a new page with B is for Books (NEXTpittsburgh) What Makes Pittsburgh’s B is for Books Store Special? (Pittsburgh Magazine) Reading Ready Pittsburgh hosts open house at free children's bookstore, "B For Books" (KDKA) B is for Books: local bookstore offering free books to help increase literacy (WPXI-TV) Nonprofit Reading Ready Pittsburgh opens free bookstore for kids (90.5 WESA) B is for Books, a free children’s bookstore, aims to boost literacy and joy for young readers (PGH City Paper) Dolly Parton Imagination Library expands Western Pa. footprint (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Dolly Parton's Imagination Library returns to Pittsburgh (WTAE-TV) Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sending free books to Pittsburgh kids (NEXTpittsburgh)

Learn about Reading Ready Pittsburgh and their mission. Mission and History MISSION Reading Ready Pittsburgh is a non-profit organization supporting the healthy development of young children by increasing access to books and by encouraging significant family engagement through reading. Reading Ready Pittsburgh offers a variety of literacy programs to the Pittsburgh area's young readers. Reading Ready Pittsburgh partners with local childcare centers, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and other community organizations to meet families where they are and remove barriers families may face in having high-quality, age-appropriate books to share in the home. We're making a difference in the Mon Valley and beyond. See what Reading Ready Pittsburgh has been up to. Logic Model Click image to enlarge Impact Reports 2021 Year In Review 2022 Impact Report 2023 Year In Review 2024 Impact Report Click here to view Reading Ready Pittsburgh's IRS Form 990 HISTORY 2025 Total books distributed surpasses 100,000 Further expand Raising a Reader programming into more elementary schools Raising a Reader surpasses 40 sites B is for Books' first birthday party RRP hires its fifth staff member to serve as a Raising a Reader Program Coordinator 2023 Second annual Braddock Literacy Day Expanded programming to Home Visitors throughout Mon Valley and surrounding communities Reading Ready Pittsburgh serves City of Pittsburgh by serving as interim Dolly Parton Imagination Library coordinator RRP hires its fourth staff member to serve as a Program Coordinator 2021 Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is launched for families with a 1511o zip code in partnerships with The First Presbyterian Church of Duquesne Reading Ready Pittsburgh partners with Heritage Community Initiatives in Braddock to offer the Raising A Reader Program Raising A Reader is expanded to kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Propel Homestead Raising A Reader is expanded to two Head Start classrooms in Braddock Reading Ready Pittsburgh adds West Mifflin, Wilkinsburg, and Swissvale to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library 2019 Reading Ready Pittsburgh opens three additional Raising A Reader programs Reading Ready Pittsburgh hires their first full time employee 2017 Raising A Reader is brought to MUSA's Little Lambs Preschool program 2026 RRP hires sixth staff member to be Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program coordinator 2024 Reading Ready Pittsburgh opens B is for Books , a free bookstore for children, at 222 East 8th Avenue in Homestead, PA RRP becomes permanent host of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library for the City of Pittsburgh Third annual Braddock Literacy Day Expand programming to Latino Community Center Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is offered to Sto-Rox (15136) Expand Raising a Reader to elementary schools 2022 Reading Ready Pittsburgh adds Ready 4K parent texting program First Braddock Literacy Day Dolly Parton Imagination Library reaches over 1000 children in Mon Valley Librarian added to staff Outreach Coordinator added to staff 2020 Raising A Reader is offered through Home Based Childcare providers First Early Head Start Home Visiting program begins Ready4K is offered to Raising A Reader families Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is launched for families with a 15120, 15104, 15145, or 15112 zip code An Eagle Scout Volunteer builds and erects 3 new little libraries in the Mon Valley 2018 Reading Ready Pittsburgh becomes an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Reading Ready Pittsburgh creates a partnership with the Head Start program at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit Six new Raising A Reader Programs are opened Four Little Give-Away Libraries are built and placed in Homestead and Swissvale

Contact Us Have a question? Please reach out to us! We would be happy to hear from you. Email us directly or fill out the form below. Mary Denison, Executive Director Megan Chips, Program Director Kathy Koltas, Librarian Mark Sepe, Outreach Coordinator Stefanie Wielkopolan, Program Coordinator Hannah Zibert, Program Coordinator Pam Calfo, DPIL Coordinator How can we help? Submit Thanks for reaching out!