Road to Decode books are now available at all Washington County Library branches! If you have an emerging reader or a child with a learning difference, the Road to Decode Collection may be a great resource. See what titles are available or visit your local library to get started.

What is Road to Decode?

Road to Decode is a community program that helps libraries provide decodable or “sound aloud” phonics books for early readers and those with a language-based learning difference, like dyslexia. 

Decoding is a key skill in learning how to read. It involves taking apart the sounds in words, blending sounds together, and having a strong understanding of letter-sound relationships. The Road to Decode collection starts with basic letter-sound correspondences, before moving on to words with irregular or complicated letter sounds. This helps kids learn the code and understand its meaning.

Rolling out the Collection at Washington County Library

The Road to Decode collection started at Wildwood Library in Mahtomedi. Library staff worked closely with Teach My Kid to Read, a grassroots organization based in New York, to bring the Road to Decode collection to Washington County Library. The aim was to support these emerging readers through a curated and specialized collection that would meet each child where they are in their reading journey.

Wildwood Library began by adding 328 Road to Decode items to its collection in October 2020 for Dyslexia Awareness Month. Since then, Washington County Library has rolled out the collection to all other branches to help bring equitable access to resources for all young readers in Washington County. 

As of July 2022, collections have been established at all library locations with a total of 17,000 checkouts occurring between October 2021 and July 2022.