Project Open Book opens doors to literacy

When Debbie Guerin pushes her red cart filled with the latest Clifford, Dora, Captain Underpants and Lizzy McGuire books down the hallways of Children's Memorial Hospital, her visit is often the high point of the day for the hospital's young patients — especially those with serious illnesses or undergoing difficult treatments.

Guerin's visits are made possible by the Project Open Book program, a collaboration between Children's Memorial and the Chicago chapter of the national non-profit organization Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), funded in part by Cubs Care and a $250,000 gift from the McCormick Tribune Foundation. About 12,000 new books are distributed to children at the hospital each year.

Several times a week Guerin, the Chicago-area program coordinator for RIF, visits the outpatient areas in both the main hospital and the dedicated outpatient center at Clark and Deming Streets, also in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. She's often accompanied by volunteers from the hospital's Founders' Board and the Northwest Suburban Guild, an affiliated organization of the Children's Memorial Foundation.

The project's goal is to encourage literacy among young children. Children select their own books, which they are allowed to keep. For those undergoing complex procedures and tests, choosing their own books allows them to feel they have some control over their lives.

For information about Project Open Book at Children's Memorial, call 773.880.3273.