SPRINGVALE, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Former First Lady Barbara Bush read to preschool kids to promote a new literacy partnership between her foundation and the Libra Foundation.
"In the times that we are having now, with so much unemployment, we have to teach adults and children to read," stated Mrs. Bush. "There is just no question about it."
"So many children don't have people to read to them, don't have hard books in their houses," she added. "We are now going to join in to teach them how to read, and teach them their alphabet and vocabulary, and make it much more clearer to children really."
The Raising Readers program provides Maine children and their parents with books when they go to their doctor's office for wellness checks. Now the program has developed Explorer Kits to help parents use the books to teach kids about the fundamentals of reading.
"185,000 children in Maine have received books through the program," explained Owen Wells, president of the Libra Foundation. "Maine is the first state in the United States to provide books to all of the children born in Maine until age 5."
With the two foundations working more closely together, they hope to help families become smarter and stronger by promoting reading together.
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