Programs:
Reach Out & Read.
80%
More than 80% of a child’s brain is formed during their first three years. Children whose parents read to them during those years improve their language development by up to 6 months.
Reach Out & Read promotes early literacy and school readiness by giving books to children at regular checkups starting at birth. Parents also receive advice from their Nurse Practitioner or Doctor about the importance of having daily, meaningful, language-rich interactions with their children. Children whose parents read to them every day help them build language skills, which makes it easier for them to learn once they get to school. Children of Bellevue’s Reach Out & Read was the first of its kind in New York and has distributed more than 300,000 books since its inception.
What We Achieved
Our Impact in Numbers
11,888
BOOKS DISTRIBUTED
We’re doing more than just handing out books—we’re building a community of readers! Our Reach Out and Read program brings the hospital to life with waiting room readers, annual in-clinic events, and library advocacy that connects families to lifelong learning. We are dedicated to all forms of literacy! Our Health literacy initiatives Growing Healthy together and Greenlight Help remind our families how small daily habits create a healthy lifestyle.
Beyond the Books
Growing Healthy Together (July – November):
Encourages families to incorporate small daily habits for a healthier lifestyle by
introducing fresh produce available at local farmers markets, plant-based recipes, ways to be active, and how meal time is family time.
Reach Out and Write:
Demonstrates creative, literacy-based activities designed to support the development of executive functioning skills in pediatric patients.
Our Story Begins:
Provides families admitted into the NICU with books and literacy education, that
supports bonding and promotes healthy language and brain development from the very start of life.
My Reading Promise:
Empowers caregivers to foster bonds with their children prior to their birth through voice stimulation such as talking, reading, and singing to their babies.
What We Envision
As we look forward into 2026 and beyond, our vision for Reach Out and Read is to innovate the way literacy rich environments manifest within the pediatric setting constantly striving to achieve equitable and diverse standards. The mission of Read Out and Read fosters literacy rich ecosystems for children to thrive, and while expanding on our current interdisciplinary approach working alongside medical providers, nutritionists, nurse educators and our families. Our goal is to provide every family with curated resources and the support needed to promote early relational health and empower parents to be proactive caregivers in their child’s development and future.
84%
of books provided in outpatient services
Our mission is to encourage bonding through books both within and beyond Bellevue. In 2025, a staggering 84% of all books distributed—including those shared during dental visits—were delivered directly through our outpatient services. We believe that waiting time shouldn’t be wasted time. Our programs, My Reading Promise and Reach Out and Write, showcase the impact of storytelling and provide education on ways families can bring literacy rich interactions home. ROR integrates reading into every check-up, we ensure that the majority of our families leave not just with care, but with the tools to build a brighter future.
424
books distributed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
In 2025, we expanded our mission to the hospital’s most vulnerable patients: our NICU families. While these patients are numerically smaller, they represent our most specialized and resource-intensive pediatric care. Our Story Begins creates a literacy rich NICU to encourage families to bond by talking, reading, and singing to their babies. Nurses provide education alongside books to remind parents that their love and bonding is the most important type of care.