Early Literacy on NPR

NPR is in the midst of a three-part series about literacy in America – yesterday, focusing on access to books and today, focusing on simple ways parents and caregivers can help their children be ready to enter school ready to learn and succeed.  As for tomorrow, I’m interested to see where they go next.  Access, and Every Child Ready to Read are not new concepts in the library world, but they may be new concepts to people who haven’t been to the library or who don’t think to go to the library before their kids can read.
I give at least one book for every baby shower I’m invited to and often books are my go-to choice for birthday presents as well.  Our library has a partnership with a local pediatrician’s office giving parents of new babies a board book with library information inside.  We also provide storytimes to the local childcare centers and preschools and continue to offer storytime in the library as well.  Storytime is no longer reading long children’s books without any interaction – I consider storytime controlled chaos – learning and having fun at the same time.  Our library also has a play area with a train track, a small kitchen, building blocks, transportation vehicles, dolls and more.  Playing is a child’s work and we need to encourage play in children’s lives.
I’ll be interested to see where NPR goes next with this focus and hope that parents and caregivers realize how essential reading is to young children and how much libraries can help!
Nonprofit Fights Illiteracy By Getting Books To Kids Who Need Them
Talk, Sing, Read, Write, Play: How Libraries Reach Kids Before They Can Read