Born to Read Home Page

You became a reader because you saw and heard someone you admired enjoying the experience, someone led you to the world of books even before you could read, let you taste the magic of stories, took you to the library, and allowed you to stay up later at night to read in bed. Jim Trelease The New Read-Aloud Handbook A Somali Alphabet — reprinted!

Born to Read, Maine's statewide early literacy program, was created in 1997 to ensure that Maine's youngest children, ages 0-5, are read aloud to daily and begin school excited about books and ready to learn. Research shows that no single activity is more important to a child's success in school and in lifelong learning than being read to regularly by a caring adult in the first five years of life.

Born to Read provides training, books and support to child care providers, volunteers, parents and home visitors throughout the state. Through its network of volunteer readers, the program to date has brought an ongoing read-aloud experience to over 16,000 Maine children.

Partnerships with agencies such as Maine Office of Child Care & Head Start, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Roads to Quality give Born to Read delivery a range of expertise as well as the means to reach children and families across the state.

"The Maine Humanities Council and the Born to Read staff provide resources and encouragement through invaluable workshops, roundtables, children's booklists, and high-quality books. Such commitment helps Maine's children's minds and hearts blossom." — Born to Read Volunteer

Past and present funders for Born to Read include:

• Betterment Fund
• Hudson Foundation
• Jane's Trust
• Jessie B. Cox Charitable Foundation
• Maine Community Foundation
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Office of Child Care & Head Start of Department of Human Services
• State of Maine/New Century Community Program
• Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation
• Verizon

For more information, contact:

Born to Read
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue, Portland, ME 04102

Phone: (207) 773-5051
Fax: (207) 773-2416