Join Legacy Community Health for our Summer of Stories campaign, running June 30 through August 4. Summer can be a time of joy and exploration, but it also brings the “summer slide”—a significant decline in reading and academic skills when school is out. Research shows that students can lose up to 20% of their school-year reading gains without regular educational engagement over a single summer. This learning loss accumulates yearly, leaving many children behind before the new school year begins.

For 10 years, Legacy’s Little Readers has worked to change this trajectory and share the love of reading year-round. Families receive the trusted health care they expect at every well-child visit, a free, age-appropriate book to take home, and a “prescription to read.” Our clinicians are credentialed through Reach Out and Read, giving them tools to help parents understand how reading supports early language development, stronger brain connections, and a lifelong love of learning.

Since launching, Little Readers has placed more than 300,000 books into children’s hands, creating brighter futures one story at a time. Donations from generous individuals and partners entirely support this work.

For more information, please contact the Little Readers Program Manager Debbie Costello at dcostello@legacycommunityhealth.org.

Join Legacy Community Health for our Summer of Stories campaign, running June 30 through August 4. Summer can be a time of joy and exploration, but it also brings the “summer slide”—a significant decline in reading and academic skills when school is out. Research shows that students can lose up to 20% of their school-year reading gains without regular ed ucational engagement over a single summer. This learning loss accumulates yearly, leaving many children behind before the new school year begins.

For 10 years, Legacy’s Little Readers has worked to change this trajectory and share the love of reading year-round. Families receive the trusted health care they expect at every well-child visit, a free, age-appropriate book to take home, and a “prescription to read.” Our clinicians are credentialed through Reach Out and Read, giving them tools to help parents understand how reading supports early language development, stronger brain connections, and a lifelong love of learning.

Since launching, Little Readers has placed more than 300,000 books into children’s hands, creating brighter futures one story at a time. Donations from generous individuals and partners entirely support this work. For more information, please contact the Little Readers Program Manager Debbie Costello at dcostello@legacycommunityhealth.org.