Gwaltney, J. (2017, July 31). Just what the doctor ordered: Encouragement for parents to read to young children.

Reach Out and Read is a national program with branches in every state, helping 4.5 million children each year. Boulware said the goal is for this intervention to help every child within the first five years of their lives. Reach Out and Read currently works with 13 clinics in Charlotte, helping between 21,000 and 22,000 children. With Read Charlotte, a community initiative to improve literacy among kindergarten through third-graders, their goal is to expand the locations to 35, helping an additional 15,000 children.