Spring is here! and along with that come garage sales. We will soon be seeing them in every neighborhood and on every corner. I would like to remind you that we are collecting gently used kids' books for the Reach Out and Read program through Riley Hospital and this is a great place to find them at a very reasonable price.

You can bring them to:

• District Convention in Saturday August 15, 2009 the Adam's Mark Hotel
• If someone is coming to Indianapolis, they can be dropped off at the District office at 8060 Knue Road, Suite 127 (call before dropping off)
• If you have quite a few books and live in the Indianapolis area, please call me (317-557-5478) and we will make arrangements to have them picked up.

Each of us can make a difference in a child's life by doing something as simple as providing a book. I hope you will help us reach our committment of 1,000 books for the Kids in the Indiana District.

Marge Crouch, District Chair
Reach Out and Read Program

Every child should grow up with books and a love of reading. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Over 166,000 Hoosier children are living in/near poverty, greatly increasing their chance of growing up without books. Putting books into the hands of young children so that they develop a love of reading is what Reach Out and Read (ROR) Indiana is all about. ROR Indiana utilizes the special relationship that exists between physician and patient to promote early childhood literacy development in the exam room.

Doctors and nurses give new books to children at each well child visit from 6 months of age to 5 years, and accompany these books with developmentally appropriate advice to parents about reading aloud with their child. Each child will receive at least 10 brand new books before starting kindergarten. The ROR program model is based on research that shows a connection between the frequency of sharing books with babies, toddlers and young children, and enhanced language development.

ROR physicians are prescribing books and reading aloud for their young patients, with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. ROR Indiana has trained doctors and nurses promoting pediatric literacy at more than 100 hospitals, health centers and private practices across the state. These sites distribute over 140,000 new books annually to Hoosier children.