General Info

Founded in 1997 by Pat Simons, Ready Readers is a St. Louis volunteer nonprofit organization that annually trains, places, and supervises more than 450 volunteers to read weekly to more than 7, 000 preschool children from low-income communities in the St. Louis area. The same volunteer reader always reads to the same children, allowing the children to associate a special person with the fun of reading. Six times during each school year and once in summer, volunteer readers also give the children personalized new books to take home for further enjoyment. During the 2009-2010 school year, Ready Readers gave more than 49, 000 new, high-quality books to the children. Watch the Ready Readers Video Ready Readers inspires preschool children from low-income communities to become readers by reading aloud to them and by increasing their exposure to quality books and stimulating reading-related activities.