Read! Learn! Succeed! Early Reading Initiative - UWFH
As of the 2026-2027 school year, Read! Learn! Succeed! is being run by the Mary Lyon Foundation.
During the summer of 2026, UWFH transitioned Read! Learn! Succeed! to the Mary Lyon Foundation, which now oversees the program’s operations and fundraising.
In response to the growing barriers to financial stability and wellness in our region, UWFH is focusing its efforts and resources on addressing families’ most urgent needs. But we also still want to ensure that the RLS program continues to thrive. Finding the right partner was a priority, and we found that partner in the Mary Lyon Foundation. They already have a long legacy of working directly with local schools and coordinating literacy initiatives as part of their important programming. This includes regularly supplying high-quality books to children and teachers and organizing author nights and family literacy events. The Foundation does all of this and more with a consistent vision of helping local students learn, succeed, and thrive, and we are grateful to be community partners. Read more about the transition at “A New Chapter for Read! Learn! Succeed!”.
Volunteers help by reading aloud once a month in preschool and kindergarten classrooms. If you are interested in volunteering or would just like more information about the program, contact Liza Manchester, Program Director at the Mary Lyon Foundation, at 413-625-2555 or lmanchester@marylyonfoundation.org.
4,042 books
were distributed to local students and teachers during the 2025-2026 school year!
About the Program
Launched in 2012, Read! Learn! Succeed! was United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region’s early reading initiative. For the 2025-2026 school year, UWFH coordinated a monthly story time in 35 early education classrooms across 14 local school sites, serving more than 480 students. Dedicated volunteers from our communities presented and facilitated a conversation about each book and afterward, each child received a copy of the book to keep and add to their home library. The high-interest books focused on themes that align with UWFH values and mission, including diversity, kindness, and ways to help one’s community.
A child’s access to books fosters a positive relationship with literacy. Read! Learn! Succeed! was designed to build literacy and language skills in early childhood, increase children’s access to books at home, and increase guardians’ access to information and tools of early reading skill development. Through shared love of reading and storytelling, volunteers act as role models by demonstrating the importance of literacy and community engagement to young children across the region.
Read! Learn! Succeed! has distributed over 55,000 books to children and teachers in our region since 2012.
Why Early Reading?
The future of our community rests on its people, especially the next generation. Research has shown that children who have early and frequent access to reading and books reach higher levels of education than those who do not. Early reading support is a simple, common-sense solution, but the stakes are high.
Read-alouds with adults are a critical piece of learning how to read.
Read-alouds with adults support mental health and security for children.
Children with early access to a wide variety of literature in their immediate environment demonstrate stronger academic skills in school.
Parents and guardians who better understand reading skill development are better equipped to support their children.
As schools work to remedy learning gaps exacerbated by pandemic challenges, reading support is needed more than ever.