A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting early literacy, Reach Out and Read encourages parents to read to their young children, with the goal of hastening the development of language skills. Researchers such as John Hutton, MD, have shown through studies using brain imaging technologies that young children who listen to books read aloud have greater development in areas of the brain dedicated to higher thought processes, such as reading.
Reach Out and Read continues to pursue research endeavors to gain additional understanding of the effects of reading aloud to young children. In order to promote research that specifically studies the impact of its programs, the organization launched a research project in 2016 known as the Collaborative for Early Literacy and Brain Development in Primary Care (also referred to as LitNet). The first studies for this research begin in 2017.