Early Literacy At Its Finest

There’s a great article on the School Library Journal’s website about the positive effects of storytime on young children. Storytime began in the late 1800s and has changed drastically over the years from a time when children were expected to sit quietly and listen to an adult read books to today’s version of storytime that includes a wide variety of actions, senses, books, songs, dances and more.

I don’t think any librarian out there would argue that storytime is unhelpful to children, but there have been few studies to show the actual effects storytime has on PreK children. I think children’s librarians are also hesitant to say they are experts in the field as many don’t have a child development background and feel uncomfortable telling parents what they should be doing at home. New studies show that being intentional at storytime about early literacy skills makes a difference. Honestly, many of the early literacy skills I’ve shared with parents and caregivers in the past are things they already do, I just give it a name and explain why it’s so important.

I found this article to a fascinating read and really enjoyed learning more about research being done in the public library field. I’d love to see more research focused not only on early literacy, but on public libraries in general. We do far more good than people realize and we need to make ourselves known.