BookReach

BookReach is an early childhood literacy program. Our mission is “To raise a community of readers by enriching the lives of young children through the pleasure of reading.” The program began within the Lewiston and Auburn Public Libraries in 1997 thanks to a grant by LL Bean. When the grant ran out, the libraries decided to continue to fund the program using their own budgets.

Our mission is “To raise a community of readers by enriching the lives of young children through the pleasure of reading.” BookReach supports its mission by bringing volunteer readers into the homes of local childcare providers. Once a volunteer is recruited, he or she is matched with a childcare provider.  The reader starts by picking up a bag of books from the Lewiston or Auburn Public Library. The reader brings the bag to the provider and completes a storytime for 20-30 minutes. After the storytime, the bag of books is left at the childcare so the children can continue to enjoy the books. The next week, the reader returns with another bag of books and provides a second storytime. The first bag is brought back to the library, and the second bag is left behind. The program continues as such. The library keeps track of these readings by asking the readers to fill out statistic sheets which they return with the bags.