Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through a national, grassroots network of community volunteers at 21,000 program sites, RIF provides 5 million children with 17 million new, free books and literacy resources each year.

All RIF programs combine three essential elements to foster children's literacy: reading motivation, family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing free books to keep.

RIF's accomplishments are due in part to the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education, corporations, foundations, community organizations, and thousands of individuals.

Many of our nation’s children lack the motivation to read. Researchers have described motivation as the “skill and will” to learn.  Students who reported reading more frequently for fun have higher reading proficiency scores than those who reported reading less frequently. Interestingly, a positive correlation also exists between the amount of time children read for pleasure and their math and science achievement.

Every RIF program includes motivational activities as a cornerstone of program delivery.   Through carefully crafted motivational activities, RIF provides children with a wide range of experiences that make reading fun.  RIF designs these activities to encourage children to become fluent and able readers.