Born to Read was initially begun by two early childhood educators in Longmont. Gwen Sieckmann and Connie Elliott realized that youngsters who were read to aloud from birth had a definite head start over those children who had not experienced books.
These two women went to organizations and asked for funding for a new and innovative project – Born to Read. The funds they received were used to purchase canvas bags imprinted with the ‘bunny’ from Rosemary Wells’ books (Max and Ruby, Max’s Chocolate Chicken, Read to Your Bunny, etc.) Gwen and Connie also procured brochures on reading to infants from the Colorado Dept. of Education and the Colorado Library Association as well as printing from the St. Vrain Valley School District. Bags also contained letters from the St. Vrain Superintendent of Schools and the Longmont Public Library’s Children’s Librarian. Additionally they purchased board books suitable for infants to put in each bag. All of the materials encouraged parents to read aloud to their infants and toddlers and are available in English or Spanish.
When Gwen and Connie retired from the project twelve years later, a volunteer group from First Congregational United Church of Christ continued Born to Read. This group continues to seek funding, order materials, buy books and assemble the bags. The bags are taken to Longmont United Hospital where nurses in the Birth Place distribute them to new parents.
Anyone interested is welcome to help with assembling the bags. Call Dede at (303)776-9729 for more information or with questions.
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