Read Literacy Program was implemented at Arbor Clinic in order to reach children and families from a culturally, socially, and economically diverse population with a positive message about reading. The children that visit the clinic are of all ages and reading levels.
Some children come to the clinic to see a doctor and others are accompanying a parent or guardian.
The literacy project targets all children who come to Arbor and hopes to promote the importance of reading to the entire family. Our main goal is to encourage the reading that takes place at Arbor to continue after families return home. An arbor volunteer strives to be a positive role model, to promote literacy to both children and parents, to help children improve their reading skills, and to ease the fear and anxiety that children experience in a clinic waiting room. Children's books, including books with both Spanish and English print, are located in the back closet and should be displayed in the reading corner of the patient waiting room. Often, the patients that come to Arbor read below their age level.