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Focus on literacy: Efforts to boost reading in Lackawanna County include help from physicians

The Wright Center for Community Health will distribute books during children's wellness visits as part of the national Reach Out and Read program.
Sarah Hofius Hall
/
WVIA News
The Wright Center for Community Health will distribute books during children's wellness visits as part of the national Reach Out and Read program.

A group of local educators and other community members want to increase literacy in Lackawanna County and beyond.

Their efforts, which include a panel discussion and documentary screening on Thursday, have inspired others to explore ideas outside of Lackawanna.

“We have a lot of work to do in Lackawanna County, and it really is going to take the entire community to make a difference,” said Sandie Lamanna, a school psychologist and trained reading specialist. “Children who get behind in first grade are more apt to be behind in third grade and more apt to drop out of school as juniors and seniors.”

Lamanna’s community-wide efforts started more than a decade ago, first as the National Reading Crisis Project and then as part of the Scranton Education Improvement Organization. The county formed its nine-member literacy committee in 2022, with Lamanna serving as its chair.

The committee’s work includes a local relaunch of Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit national program that distributes books to children during their regular pediatric visits. Lamanna and others started the program locally in 2016, but now want to expand reach and include more local physicians.

The Wright Center for Community Health recently hosted an event for the relaunch of the program and will make literacy part of well visits. The committee hopes more area physicians will take part.

Sandie Lamanna, left, chair of the Lackawanna County Literacy Committee, discusses reading with Wright Center physician Dr. Manju Thomas.
Sarah Hofius Hall
/
WVIA News
Sandie Lamanna, left, chair of the Lackawanna County Literacy Committee, discusses reading with Wright Center physician Dr. Manju Thomas.

When Dr. Manju Thomas worked in the Lehigh Valley, she participated in Reach Out and Read. Now deputy chief medical officer and medical director of pediatrics and school- and community-based medical home services for the Wright Center, she looks forward to distributing books to patients locally.

“The whole concept of giving out a book is like giving a prescription,” Thomas said. “Literacy is so important… it's a brain nutrition, basically. It’s as important as good food and sleep. That’s what I feel like.”

“The whole concept of giving out a book is like giving a prescription,” Thomas said. “Literacy is so important… it's a brain nutrition, basically. It’s as important as good food and sleep. That’s what I feel like.”

After learning about the efforts in Lackawanna County, Susquehanna County Commissioner Judy Herschel started to meet with educators and other leaders to discuss needs and the possibility of developing a committee. She recently spoke with Lamanna.

“Not only is her literacy program doing great things in Lackawanna County, it is inspiring other counties, such as mine, to take a hard look at an issue that unfortunately still very much exists in our culture,” Herschel said.

The literacy committee will hold a screening of the award-winning documentary “The Right to Read,” on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Lackawanna College, Scranton.

After the screening, experts will discuss the role of reading in education, public health and the broader society. Scheduled panelists include David Kilpatrick, nationally recognized reading expert; Erin Keating, Scranton School District superintendent; and Lackawanna County First Assistant District Attorney Brian Gallagher.

Those planning to attend can register for free tickets here.

Sarah Hofius Hall worked at The Times-Tribune in Scranton since 2006. For nearly all of that time, Hall covered education, visiting the region's classrooms and reporting on issues important to students, teachers, families and taxpayers.

You can email Sarah at sarahhall@wvia.org