Organizations that focus on early literacy, including those listed below, offer a variety of programs, educational materials, training, and other support.

The Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA) is a registered non-profit organization that serves and supports public libraries throughout the County, helping them continually improve the level and quality of services they provide. Its goals include building cooperation among the libraries and enabling them to share resources and services. A prime example is the Electronic Information network (eiNetwork), which provides a common automation system linking libraries throughout the County. ACLA also seeks to strengthen library resources and services county-wide by applying for and distributing public and private funding. In addition, it offers a variety of services, including outreach programs such as Mobile Library and Knowledge Connections, more than a dozen learning sites at public housing communities throughout Allegheny County.

The Allegheny Intermediate Unit is one of 29 education service agencies statewide, supporting schools, families, and communities. Allegheny (IU#3) serves 42 school districts in Allegheny County. Among its key services is the Head Start Program, founded in 1965 to serve the needs of young children, from birth to age five, and their families. Head Start’s mission is preparing young children from low-income families to succeed in school and giving them the skills necessary to succeed in life. The AIU also operates 11 Family Support Centers, two Even Start Family Literacy programs, and the DART Early Intervention program, all of which provide early literacy support to children and parents.

Literacy*AmeriCorps is a national service program, sponsored by the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council, dedicated to improving the literacy skills of adults and families. Members in the program dedicate a year of their lives to being of service to others; during their year of service Literacy*AmeriCorps members teach and/or tutor adults and children one-on-one or in small groups. Literacy*AmeriCorps Pittsburgh has 26 full-time AmeriCorps members that are placed within local literacy service providers to enhance and expand the services provided to the community. Organizations pay a small fee to host an AmeriCorps member and receive ongoing support from Literacy*AmeriCorps while hosting an AmeriCorps member.

For the past 20 years, Beginning with Books has put books into young children’s hands – and reading into their lives. Among its ongoing efforts is distributing high-quality, new books to children so they can have their very own. The organization also sends Storymobiles into local communities, recruits and trains volunteers to read to children, and serves as an educational resource for parents, teachers, and caregivers. Each year, Beginning with Books announces its list of “Best Books for Babies.” Special events, such as the annual Storywalk, turn reading into family fun.

Estelle S. Campbell Boys & Girls Club of Lawrenceville.  The Waterford Reading Lab I services K-3 readers on the computer program. Older students have access to the Waterford writing and keyboarding program. 

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh serves the dynamic and diverse information needs of people living in Western Pennsylvania through the Main Library, the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and numerous neighborhood locations. Patrons of all ages enjoy access to the Library’s storehouse of books and other materials, as well as a wide range of reading and educational programs at 20 convenient locations throughout the area. Children’s offerings range from Baby Lapsits to Toddler and Preschool Storytimes, puppet shows, and special grade-school programs.

Carnegie Science Center is dedicated to inspiring learning and curiosity by connecting science and technology with everyday life. Serving visitors of all ages, the Center makes the world of science come alive with experiences that are highly interactive, entertaining, and relevant. A four-story Omnimax Theatre, an interactive Planetarium, the largest science of sport exhibit in the country, a real WWII submarine, the world's best model railroad display, three live demonstration theatres, and a building full of 400 hands-on exhibits make Carnegie Science Center the number one exploration destination in the Pittsburgh area.

The Center for Creative Play is a national leader in inclusive play and play environments. Founded in Pittsburgh in 1995 by five parents who wanted a place where all children are welcome, the Center operates a unique play environment that has become a national model. The organization shares this expertise by providing training and technical assistance that is resulting in the creation of Center for Creative Play Environments™ throughout the country. The Center also designs products that promote inclusive play.

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is one of the region’s foremost educational resources for young children and their families. Known for its innovative exhibits and learning activities, the Museum serves more than two million people annually. Classes and workshops at the Museum give children the opportunity to take part in age-appropriate activities that build developmental and creative skills. Hundreds of school groups visit every year, and more than 70 classroom and assembly programs make a wide variety of performers and activities available to schools, community organizations, libraries, and festivals. Training for teachers is also offered throughout the year, encompassing areas such as puppetry, music, scientific inquiry, and storytelling.

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh programs include Healthy Stories, which seeks to promote early language development and prepare young children for a lifetime of learning. At Family Care Connection centers throughout the Pittsburgh region, children are given age-appropriate books, parents are invited to participate in Raising Readers Parent Clubs, and parents and children are encouraged to read together. At the Oakland Primary Care Center, physicians give books to children from nine months to three years of age during well-child visits and speak with parents about the importance of introducing children to reading at a young age.

Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation's largest stay-in-school network. Its mission is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. In Pittsburgh, CIS leads the way in creating and managing school-community partnerships that meet students' academic and social needs. CIS also initiates special efforts that support student success. The CIS / Bridges Connections Program strengthens cognitive abilities and perceptual skills that are essential for learning. The Communities In Schools Academy, which serves students from fifteen area school districts, is a non-traditional school for educationally at-risk students.

The Fox Chapel Area School District Family Literacy Center is a free program for School District residents with preschool-age children. The objective is for parents and caregivers to learn more about interacting with their children through talking, listening, reading, and writing. Field trips, connected activities, interactions and, of course, storytelling are part of the program. Parents and caregivers attend with their three- and four-year-old children to learn more about making reading fun.

Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council programs and services have reached over 25,000 students in Allegheny County and surrounding areas. Programs range from Families for Learning (designed for parents and their preschool children) to adult and out-of-school young adult education. Families for Learning currently operates two literacy centers which address adult literacy, early childhood education, training in parenting, and parent and child together time (PACT).

The Healy Heartwood Bus turns a period of time when children are usually idle or disruptive into the best kind of learning – the kind when they learn without realizing they are being taught. Children who ride the StoryBus to school listen to stories told by professional storytellers. Selected stories honor diversity and reinforce universal attributes such as courage, loyalty, respect, and honesty. This program also has a partnership with Citizens Bank; employees tutor students from various elementary schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Students are transported to the bank's downtown headquarters on the StoryBus.

The Homeless Children's Education Fund (HCEF) seeks to provide homeless children with access to the same educational opportunities and experiences as their peers. Founded in 1999, HCEF works with the 18 shelters in Allegheny County that serve homeless families and children. One of the organization’s main projects is creating Learning Centers within the shelters. Each Center includes new computers with Internet access, educational software, and hundreds of books for all reading levels. HCEF provides mini-grants which the shelters may use to purchase learning materials or bring in art workshops, health workshops, and educational readiness seminars. It also provides free backpacks and school supplies, so that all children in the shelters can attend school with their own, brand-new backpacks.

The Junior League of Pittsburgh is an organization of women committed to improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is entirely educational and charitable. Among its signature projects is the Everybody Wins! Power Lunch program, which pairs elementary school students with volunteers who read aloud to a child once a week at lunchtime.

Since 1987, the Mon Valley Education Consortium (MVEC) has been a dedicated advocate for creating conditions that enable all children to learn to high standards. Literacy for Life is MVEC’s comprehensive education strategy that mobilizes community participation to build libraries in the area’s poorest homes, support families with low literacy skills, tie early childhood education to public education, and advance literacy as a community’s foremost economic development tool. To date, MVEC has placed more than 170,000 children’s books into disadvantaged homes across SW Pennsylvania, and has published an outstanding Parent Literacy Guide.

The OASIS Intergenerational Tutoring Program matches volunteers with students in K-3 who need help developing reading and language skills. Volunteers work one-on-one with the child during the school day as a tutor, mentor, and friend. The program is offered in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and Woodland Hills School District.

The Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children works to support high quality early care and education for young children through professional development, collaboration with community resources, and advocacy for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the individuals who work with them.

Pittsburgh Public Schools has a number of programs dedicated to early literacy. Its Head Start classrooms use Scholastic’s “Building Language for Literacy,” High / Scope and Waterford Early Reading Programs for instruction. A Literacy Plus reading coach provides professional development to teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents in scientifically-based reading research and its practical application in preschool classrooms.

PNC Grow Up Great is a 10-year, $100 million program to prepare young children, from birth to age five, for success in school – and in life. Its focus is on school readiness as the key to stronger, smarter, healthier children, and a solid investment in local families and communities. PNC Grow Up Great programs are designed to encompass the whole child, including cognitive, social, and emotional development. Partners include Sesame Workshop, the Public Broadcasting Service, Family Communications, Inc., and Head Start.

Point Park Children’s School, in affiliation with the Point Park University Education Department, provides a high-quality program for young children and their families. Emphasis is placed on the quality of interactions among teachers and children and the developmental appropriateness of the High / Scope curriculum, effectively combining sound educational theory with classroom experience. Programs are offered for infants (six weeks) through kindergarten, and summer elementary students in first and second grades. Children’s School is licensed by the Department of Public Welfare and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs.

For the past 22 years, Reading is FUNdamental Pittsburgh has provided the resources, opportunities, skills, and motivation to help 68,000 children age 2-12 become successful readers. RIF Pittsburgh’s Book Distribution Program has distributed over 150,000 new, age-appropriate, free children’s books. Its After School Tutoring Program has helped nearly 1,000 students reading below grade level improve their reading scores; on average, their gains have been five times greater than those not in the program. The Read to Your Parent Program has inspired over 4,000 families to read more than 60,000 books together.

The mission of Shady Lane School is to provide quality early childhood education programs and support projects that encourage partnerships among educators, families, and children. Shady Lane is an outstanding local early childhood center, recognized for using the arts to foster self-confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills in children age two through six. Accredited by the National Association for Early Childhood Programs since 1987, the school has been honored as one of the 10 exemplary preschool programs in the country by Child Magazine. Committed to enhancing the professional development of educators, Shady Lane Resource’s community-based projects, such as the Pittsburgh Alliance for Arts in Early Education, offer unique programs, including “Boxes, Boards, and Bags to Books.” 

The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development (OCD) is a university-community resource and management facility dedicated to improving the lives of children and families in Pittsburgh, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the nation, and around the world through research, education, practice, and policy. OCD attempts to improve the lives of children and families by conducting a variety of multidisciplinary, community-driven, responsive, collaborative projects that turn knowledge into action.

Current literacy related projects include:

The Early Head Start PNC Grow Up Great Early Literacy Project serving children 0-3 in the Clairton, East Liberty, Hill District and Sto-Rox communities.

Family Centers of Excellence in School Readiness Project serving children 3-5 in the Hill District and Northview Heights Community in collaboration with Family Resources and the Greater Pittsburgh Urban League.

Partnerships for Family Support Project serving children 0-5 and their families in over 20 communities in Allegheny County in collaboration with approximately 27 family support centers

WQED MultiMedia provides a wide range of educational, cultural, and informational products and services for the community. Over 1,000,000 households rely on WQED each week, more than any other Pittsburgh educational or cultural institution. WQED’s broad experience includes media projects that involve television, educational video, teacher training modules, and accompanying printed materials, as well as publishing, promotion, distribution, and an array of interactive and multimedia products. WQED has won more than 250 local, national, and international awards for excellence, including 60 Emmys and 12 Peabody Awards.