REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Raising A Reader, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources and programs to help families develop, practice and maintain literacy habits critical for a child's success, celebrates its presence in the Bay Area and all of Northern California.

One of Raising A Reader's affiliates, Raising A Reader of San Francisco/Alameda/Contra Costa, has recently announced a name change to Tandem as part of its expansion and growth. Raising A Reader supports Tandem with its expansion of services and shares the following facts:

• The relationship between Raising A Reader and Tandem has not changed; the organization will continue to be one of Raising A Reader's many valued affiliates in the Bay Area.
• While Tandem is one of the largest affiliates in the Bay Area, it is one of several organizations that have agreements to provide the Raising A Reader program to children in the area.
• Raising A Reader currently serves more than 42,000 children in Northern California through 43 affiliates, one of which is Tandem.
• Raising A Reader is a comprehensive program that is comprised of more than the rotation of books into children's homes every week. The program includes training and guidance for parents and teachers, family resources and support for affiliates responsible for implementing the program.

"We are extremely pleased one of our Bay Area affiliates has decided to expand their organization to better serve the needs of the community and we fully support their efforts," said Gabrielle Miller, Ed.D., president and CEO of Raising A Reader. "We look forward to working with Tandem as well as our other affiliates in the area to make children's literacy a priority in the Bay Area."

Raising A Reader is a 501c3 charitable organization dedicated to helping families develop, practice and maintain literacy habits for children ages 0-8 that are critical for a child's success in school and in life. The program is evidence-based, with more than 23 independent evaluations showing that Raising A Reader significantly improves language and literacy skills, cognitive development, communication and comprehension skills, school readiness and social competence. Raising A Reader is implemented through a network of community partners that comprise more than 2,500 locations across the country including public school systems, libraries, afterschool programs, community agencies and other organizations both public and private. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Raising A Reader was founded in 1999 and has served more than 1.25 million families nationwide. More information is available at RaisingAReader.org, @RARnational (Twitter) and RaisingAReaderNational (Facebook).

SOURCE Raising A Reader