Baltimore City
Health Department

Reach Out and Read Greater Baltimore

Overview

ROR

Reach Out and Read is a national program that makes literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Through Reach Out and Read, doctors and nurses are trained to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud, and to give books to children at pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age, with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. By building on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers, Reach Out and Read helps families and communities encourage early literacy skills so children enter school prepared for success in reading.

In the Greater Baltimore area, there are 32 Reach Out and Read sites that distribute more than 40,000 books each year. The coalition of Reach Out and Read sites in the Greater Baltimore area is housed within the Baltimore City Health Department.

Eligibility:

ROR services are provided to every child ages 6 months to 5 years of age, who receives well-child check-ups at participating ROR sites.

Services include:

  • A new developmentally appropriate book to keep and take home at each well- child check-up. These books form the basis for a home library that can be read again and again.
  • Anticipatory guidance for parents regarding literacy. Recognizing that parents are their child's first teachers, medical providers incorporate concrete and age-appropriate advice about books and reading into the developmental information provided to parents during their child's check-up. Even parents who have low literacy levels learn that they can teach their children to love books by linking books to parental love and attention.
  • Volunteers in the waiting rooms who read aloud to children as they wait for their medical appointments. These readers model the techniques of looking at books with children and demonstrate the joy associated with reading aloud. In the absence of volunteer readers, literacy-rich environments can be found in the waiting area.

Participating ROR Site Locations

  • Ralph Brown, M.D.
  • Charles Street Pediatric Assoc.
  • East Baltimore Medical Center
  • Franklin Square Family Health Care Center
  • GBMC Weinberg CHC
  • Greenspring Pediatric Assoc.
  • Harbor Pediatrics
  • Highlandtown CHC
  • Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Center for Addiction and Pregnancy
  • Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Children's Medical Practice
  • Johns Hopkins Hospital, Harriet Lane Clinic
  • Kennedy Krieger Institute, Center for Development and Learning
  • Laurel Primary Care
  • Linden Pediatric Assoc.
  • Matilda Koval Medical Center
  • Mercy Family Care
  • Mercy Southern Health Care
  • Middlesex Health Care Center
  • Park West Medical Center
  • People's Community Health Center
  • People's CHC at Open Gates
  • St. Agnes HealthCare Pediatrics
  • Tindeco Health Center
  • Total Health Care - Division St.
  • Total Health Care - Kirk Ave.
  • Total Health Care - Mondawmin
  • Total Health Care - Saratoga St.
  • Total Health Care @ True Health
  • University of Maryland, Pediatric Ambulatory Center
  • Wald Community Nursing Center
  • Wyman Park Medical Center

 

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Hours and Contact Information

  • Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4:30 p.m.
  • Each ROR site maintains its own clinic schedule.
  • 1001 E. Fayette St.
  • Baltimore, MD 21202
  • Telephone: 410-396-9995
  • Fax: 410-727-2722