Research shows that by the age three, children born into low-income families hear 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers. That "word gap" factors into a compounding achievement gap in school and life. Born to Read introduces parents of newborns to the important role they play in their child’s development. By reading to their babies and becoming regular library users themselves, parents help their babies develop much needed language skills.

Born to Read presents every new parent with a kit chosen by the library which contains a book, literacy information, a library card for the newborn and an invitation to a first birthday party. The library hosts one year birthday parties for the Born to Read babies quarterly at numerous SLCL branches. These parties are the library’s opportunity to connect officially with the families and where we begin a discussion of the importance of early literacy, providing tools and tips to families. The parties are also a celebration where babies receive another new book.

The program served approximately 6,000 families in 2015. We expect to double that number in 2016. The goals of this program are to:

• Provide new parents with the tools to start their children on the road to reading success. By providing parents a book to read to the child, a calendar of early literacy activities and general information about library services and programs available to them, we hope to instill the importance of early literacy activities.
• Give families a reason to come to the library, giving the library the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with the family.