Announcing the "Read First!" Project

We've been working for several months on a big, new project that will attempt to achieve for whole communities what we have previously achieved for isolated family networks. We have just mailed announcements to community organizations all over Missouri. We are launching a partnership program with huge implications for family and community life in the years ahead. Each partnership begins with a solid month of activities...something for everyone!

The central idea of Read First! is to try to multiply the transformative effects of the READ from the START workshops we've spread throughout Missouri in twelve years. We are seeking communities that want to reap the benefits of this program and create a place where every child is read to. We are willing to invest intensive attention and support for the ten towns who bid successfully to be in the first wave of this project.

We developed this project at the urging of a private donor who has given our family reading program a quarter of a million dollars since 2002. Read Julie Douglas's vision for Read First! and then think about involving your own town. May 16 is the deadline for applications from communities.