(NEWS CENTER Maine) -- In the last 18 years, every child born in Maine has had the opportunity to begin their own library of books, thanks to a statewide program called Raising Readers.
Raising Readers is one of the largest literacy programs in the country; and it begins at birth.
More than 1,200 medical providers in every corner of the state - regardless of their affiliation - are involved, and the results are staggering; proving it really does take a village to raise a child.
Dr. Brian Youth enjoys being able to hand a book to a every child 5-years-old and younger at every checkup.
"The reason for the book is to share the importance of reading and reading early," says Dr. Youth. "Even when you read to a kid who is 2 to 4 months of age there’s been data that suggests that’s actually helpful in terms of brain development, so it’s sort of a vehicle to talk about the importance of reading with kids and families."
In 18 years, Raising Readers has given out more than 2.5-million books to more than 260,000 Maine children. Deborah Deatrick with MaineHealth was there for the start of the program.
"We thought about creating this program where the Libra foundation would give all of the money to buy the books," recalls Deatrick. "We started this program with a very small pilot at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center. We hired a children’s librarian who had a background in public health and we started putting books in the trunk of her car and taking them around to physicians' offices and giving them instruction about how they would give out the books and counsel parents about literacy and reading and the importance of starting at the earliest age."
Deatrick says the program over the years, seems to be working, "Maine was identified a few years ago as the state that has the highest rate of reading to children." While that could certainly be coincidence, Deatrick herself has seen the results.
"I have a son who was adopted about the time this program launched. I watched him get those books from his doctor and start reading; I watched him become a voracious reader overtime. He’s in college now but he was one of the first groups of kids to actually participate, so I saw with my own eyes the power of putting this into the healthcare system and having doctors and nurses who understand what the power is of reading and literature and vocabulary."
For a list of suggested books, click here.