Help RRITH Gets Books into the Hands of Children from Birth to Age 5!

Who is Raising Readers in the Heartland (RRITH)?

• RRITH’s mission is to inspire a life-long love of reading by providing FREE, high-quality books for all 36,000 children from birth to age five who live in Polk County, IA, regardless of socioeconomic level or zip code.
• RRITH is an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), which has mailed over 280 million free books since 1995 (more than two million each month).
• DPIL provides cost-effective books to local affiliates across the US, who raise money to operate DPIL programs and support its mission.

Why is targeting early childhood literacy important?

• One in four children in the US grows up without learning to read (WriteExpress Corp., 2014).
• Children who are read to at least 3 times a week are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to those who are read to less than three times per week (US DOE, 2002).
• By age 3, 85% of the brain’s core structure is formed. By age 5, the brain is 90% formed (Ypsilanti, 2005).