Studies indicate that children who fall behind when they start to read, rarely catch up. There is nearly a 90 percent chance that a poor reader in first grade will remain a poor reader. The problem these readers are experiencing is caused by skill deficits – and the deficit between average and below-average readers can be largely erased with appropriate intervention and remediation. The "Free Orton–Gillingham Readers" program is one such reading remediation program.

Orton–Gillingham programs are the gold standard for teaching students with dyslexia, but are helpful for all struggling readers. But such programs are cost-prohibitive for many families. By leveraging the expertise of SFPL’s learning differences librarian, a full-time staff member who is Orton-Gillingham certified, the library is able to offer a long term solution to this need in a way that is free to the community and easy for parents and students to access.

Students who have completed levels one and two will have learned the decoding skills to bring them up to or surpass grade level benchmarks. Parents and students report increased confidence after just two or three sessions. Students begin at level one of five and work through the curriculum at their own pace, revisiting concepts until mastered. By each student following the full curriculum, we ensure that there are no gaps in reading building blocks.