Raising Readers in Story County

Mission: To support the language and literacy development of young children by providing books, caregiver guidance, and early childhood programs.

Raising Readers in Story County originated from the Iowa Stories 2000 project, initiated by Christie Vilsack. Ames was chosen as one of seven pilot communities, with librarians from local school, public, and university libraries leading the project. An advisory panel, along with focus groups and public forums, identified early literacy as the greatest need, particularly for low-income families. Funded in part by Ames Morning Rotary, the project adopted the Baby TALK program, a research-based initiative from Decatur, IL, to support families with young children. This collaboration evolved into the Raising Readers program.

Raising Readers in Story County offers research-based and age-appropriate programming for Story County families with children aged 0-8. Programs range from free books given out at well-child visits to dialogic reading with preschoolers to reading enrichment to early elementary school students.