Tomorrow, the first-ever St. Louis city and county-wide literacy initiative launches. The program is a collaboration between Ready Readers and the St. Louis Regional Early Childhood Council and it is called “Turn the Page STL.”

On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, two organizers behind the effort joined host Don Marsh to discuss the initiative, what it will accomplish and how it will do so. Lisa Greening is the executive director of Ready Readers and Lindsey Noblott is the director of the St. Louis Regional Early Childhood Council.

“One, we have a plethora of amazing organizations here that work with young children,” Greening said. “It is important to start reading with your children on day one. Their minds are full and ready. Think about this: you can learn any language when you’re born. What if you don’t hear any language? By the time you’re five, 95 percent of your language is formed and it is almost impossible to go backwards.”

Greening said there are 15 organizations in the St. Louis area working on this early childhood literacy effort. She wanted to bring those organizations together to help families start at the beginning and to aid early childhood centers.

“We can do this as a community, just as they do in most other communities around the United States,” Greening said.

Noblott said the initiative will coalesce organizations in one room, create calls to action to increase early literacy.

Listen as they discuss the state of literacy and what they hope the initiative will achieve here:

Related Event

What: Turn the Page STL Announcement
When: Thursday, Sept. 28 at 10 a.m.
Where: Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, 5700 Lindell, St. Louis, MO 63112
More information.
 

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region. 

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