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About Us

Vision

Teach My Kid to Read has a vision of a world where all kids have access to resources that help them learn to read.

Mission

Teach My Kid to Read supports public and school libraries and staff with the information, skills, and services they need to fill a resource gap by providing equitable access to decodable books that support improved literacy for all.

Our Story

In 2019, Teach My Kid to Read (TMKTR) initiated the first widespread programming to educate public librarians about the process of learning to read and how decodable books support skilled reading. Librarians and library staff are educated about the literacy crisis, the importance of language skills and decoding skills, signs of dyslexia, building literacy skills through library activities, decodable books, and how to create decodable book collections and literacy hubs.

Presenting at The Southern Adirondack Library Systems

TMKTR focuses on the following three areas :

  • Librarian and Library Staff professional development and training about literacy, creating collections of literacy resources such as decodable (sound-aloud) books, and literacy events and outreach.
  • Operational Support accessing and creating collections of decodable books and literacy hubs.
  • Guidance creating literacy events, outreach, and educating patrons and the community about decodable books and literacy resources.

After participating in TMKTR programming, 100% of all librarians said they are likely or highly likely to learn more about ways to help more kids learn to read and to stock resources such as decodable books!

Librarians that signup to work with TMKTR receive access to a free, robust online membership program that includes a mini-course, expert seminars, handouts, and kits. To help with access, the decodable book publishers and other organizations provide discounts and incentives, especially with the high-needs communities. 

In the program’s first year, TMKTR partnered with over fifty libraries in New York and other states that heard about the program. As a result, TMKTR has provided professional development or Webinars to six of New York’s twenty-three library systems, training upwards of 240 librarians representing rural, suburban, and urban communities. In addition, TMKTR has presented at state librarian meetings, librarian organizations in Michigan, and library systems throughout Illinois. Currently, over three hundred libraries representing states all over the country and Canada participate in the membership program, and that number grows every day.

Although TMKR works at scale with libraries, TMKTR provides outreach that enables them to directly impact the community through one-to-one discussions at live and virtual events. For example, through volunteers, it’s common to see TMKTR partnering with libraries and other nonprofits at farmer’s markets and other venues that enable the community to learn about and access resources that help them help their early or struggling reader improve their literacy skills.

In Albany, New York’s South End, TMKTR recently launched an Impact Library with Little Free Library to reach communities without public libraries and as an outreach model. The South End is a densely populated, high-needs community 91 percent minority. The library is part of The Read in Color program that provides diverse literature to children in neighborhoods with less access to books. Combining the Read in Color program with TMKTR’s literacy resources has enabled TMKTR to provide over one-hundred books per week to a neighborhood in need and improve literacy through outreach connections with other nonprofits.

TMKTR is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit with a mission to provide librarians, parents, and caregivers, with the tools to help all kids learn to read.