Read Aloud Delaware: Making Reading a Priority for Delaware's Children

Mary Hirschbiel shows the
organization's rotating collection

Take one step into Mary Hirschbiel's office, and you can smell books. As readers of my "Ardent Reader" blog may know, there is no sweeter smell, in my opinion. I felt right at home.

Mary Hirschbiel, Executive Director of Read Aloud Delaware, welcomed me warmly with a firm handshake and invited me into her office at the Community Services Building in Wilmington. A nonprofit run primarily by volunteers, Read Aloud Delaware has one mission: to get parents to read to their kids. "Reading is the foundation for everything in life," she says. The charity was started because reading did not seem to take priority in the lives of many children. "Children who don't have reading are handicapped in life." So, they decided to do something about it. Now, Mary's office oversees volunteers staffing 39 locations throughout New Castle County, Delaware. Read Aloud Delaware has offices in Kent and Sussex Counties as well.

Read Aloud Delaware's process is amazing. Volunteers come to them, they are screened and receive background checks, and they are sent to preschools or head start programs. There, they read to a child every single week. The child picks a book from the volunteer's book bag. For five to ten minutes, the child has the volunteer's undivided attention. Ironically enough, the child's curiosity never seems to be satisfied. The challenge for Read Aloud Delaware is to get the message of the importance of one-on-one reading to parents who need to hear it.

Deb Blom, Volunteer Site Leader

Mary remembers one special case: a small boy who was homeless. He had been in multiple shelters, but had been read to by Read Aloud Delaware volunteers at every location. "You can't make assumptions about people," Mary says, "I've spoken to people in shelters who said their only stable nightly tradition was the bedtime story. Every parent needs to give their children this gift." Whether through the use of storytelling or books, the power of language is indisputable.

Mary grew up in a New England home that did not have a TV until she was in her late teens. Some of her best memories involve reading. While one member of her family ironed, another mended, and the third read a book to the other two. Mary remembers with emotion a very special Christmas day, which she spent reading with her elderly mother, aunt, husband, and son. It was one of the last days they spent all together. Mary has always worked for nonprofits in some way, and says she is a problem solver. "I believe problems can be solved by volunteers."



Judy Arthur, part-time
Administrative Assistant

 Right now, Read Aloud Delaware needs unrestricted operating funds to keep their program going. "It costs about $2,400 to run a site. That includes volunteer screening, background checks, and training." There are 39 sites just in New Castle County; you do the math. 

My ten bucks may go to recruiting volunteers, but it may also purchase books. Read Aloud Delaware gives a book to every child that completes their reading programs "I Love to Read Month" and "Read Aloud Week". Your ten bucks may be used to pay Mary's part-time assistant Judy Arthur, who spends her day off voluteering for Read Aloud Delaware. She loves to read to the kids. "It invigorates me," she says, with her bright smile. Or maybe, it will be used to pay for the volunteer orientation materials that Deb Blom, a volunteer for more than ten years, will use as Site Leader. Perhaps it will pay for the volunteer bags full of 25 books that volunteers stock and carry to the site.

The official Read Aloud
Delaware volunteer bag

Whatever you decide to give, give it freely, as the Read Aloud Delaware volunteers give their time. Your ten bucks may help teach a child a read. Sounds like a bargain to me.

Of course, I had to ask Mary, "What are you reading right now?" She reached into her bag and pulled out a paperback, "I'm re-reading The Confessor by Daniel Silva." (Most of you know I couldn't possibly leave without getting that snippet of information.)

The best way to make a donation to Read Aloud Delaware is to send a check to their office at P.O. Box 25249, Wilmington, DE 19899. Want to volunteer? Call Mary's office at (302) 656-5256. Two restaurant fundraisers are planned for April 12 and May 2, get more details at http://www.readalouddelaware.org/.

My ten bucks matters, and so does yours.