PhotoPhilanthropy

About the Organization

Raising A Reader seeks photographers to help us capture the magic of the interactive book sharing experience. We would like photographs that illustrate the core concepts in our theory of change: the young child engaged in the book sharing process, the joy reflected in both adults and children, the excitement, curiosity, and confidence inspired by the interaction, the safety and comfort of the child and adult sharing a book, and the role of the library and community in creating a lifelong love of books and learning. We would like to illustrate the fun that parents and caregivers have in RAR workshops, and the confidence that low literacy or limited English speaking parents develop in sharing books with their children as a result of our program. We will use these photographs to raise awareness in our community, inspire parents and caregivers to keep up the good work, and to support our development efforts.

About the Opportunity

Raising A Reader’s mission is to close the achievement gap before it appears by engaging limited-income families in daily book-sharing with their children from birth to age 5, thereby fostering healthy brain development, family-child bonding, and the early literacy skills essential for school success. RAR targets the first five years of life, the vital period when 90% of brain development occurs. Working with childcare providers, RAR rotates a set of bright red bags filled with excellent, multi-lingual, multi-cultural children’s books into the homes of low-income families on a weekly basis. RAR offers a comprehensive program that is child-driven, easily adaptable, and that engages parents and the early care community as partners. Raising A Reader overcomes traditional barriers to literacy by tapping into the natural storytelling traditions of all people, ultimately helping families with young children to establish a book-sharing routine using interactive “read-aloud” strategies, and to increase family library visits.