An Interview With Earl Martin Phalen, CEO, Reach Out and Read

When a doctor says, “Take two of these and call me in the morning,” most patients would be surprised to be handed books. But Reach Out and Read finds that giving books to children and advising their parents on the educational benefits of reading aloud turns out to be good medicine.

Literacy rates greatly improve among children aged 6 months to 5 years who are aided by this Somerville, Mass.-based charity, ROR CEO Earl Martin Phalen says.