Best Practices - Early Literacy
2010
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | Designing Resources for Parents
Georgene DeFilippo is director of youth services for a city library system that serves a regional population of nearly 1.3 million. She is always looking for ways to support programs that introduce and reinforce early literacy skills. Georgene said, “We have such a limited amount of time with parents and caregivers. The staff wanted to be able to distribute materials that would be easy and fun to use at home.”
With grant money from the Heinz Endowments and some operating funds, Georgene published a series of attractive and practical printed pieces for her staff to give away as part of their on-site and outreach programs. She worked with a talented member of the graphics department who designed materials and negotiated prime rates with printers.
Georgene said, “Our parents are determined to help their little ones learn to read because they remember how hard it was for them when they were in school.” The youth services department now offers: a four-color, 60-inch growth chart that lists appropriate skills from birth to 36 months, with room to “chart” favorite books; Mother Goose Rhyme Packets—two each for infants, toddlers and preschoolers—that reinforce nursery rhymes they hear at storytime; and a series of cards suggesting activities that promote PA Early Learning Standards.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | Learning with Books, Penguins and Athletes
For several years, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has promoted One Book, Every Young Child, in conjunction with the Month of the Young Child. Last year, organizers wanted to plan a special event that would attract new families with young children to the library.
“I loved the penguin theme,” said children’s librarian Caralee Sommerer. “And I really appreciated the manual that came with the book. It was filled with great ideas, especially in math and science.” For Penguin Fest!, Caralee recruited help form the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, the Council of Three Rivers Indian Center, Pennsylvania Early Learning Keys to Equality, students from Pitt and Duquesne and volunteers from Kohl’s Department Store.
“We posted flyers in child care centers and we sent invitations to individual families,” Caralee said. The two-hour, Saturday morning program offered a series of learning stations on the second floor of the library. Children participated in memory games, crafts and a penguin egg relay. “We try to require pre-registration, but it doesn’t always work,” Caralee said, adding they accommodated 120 people. The most popular celebrity was Elvis the penguin, from the National Aviary. Pittsburgh Steelers Trai Essex and Darnell Stapleton volunteered their time to read to the children and sign autographs.
Shaler North Hills Library | Fostering Literacy with Nonfiction
Karen Hathaway, Shaler North Hills’ children’s librarian, was looking for a way to tap preschoolers’ natural curiosity and their desire to be “experts,” by using nonfiction and hands-on materials.
At the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Karen discovered resources available through the Educational Loan Program. She learned she could borrow show-and-tell materials like fossils, antlers, bones and bird eggs for a first-class, hands-on experience. It inspired her to design a reading program to encourage preschoolers to learn about the world around them and to build on early reading skills, learning styles and critical thinking.
Once a week, Discovery Kids presents a concept from one of the natural sciences including physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. Karen said, “For Halloween, we talked about bats and skeletons. For Christmas, I borrowed some reindeer antlers.” The format includes storytime—with nonfiction picture books—then a lab with an activity. She closes with a fiction book pertaining to the theme. Karen’s goal was to serve 15 children each week. Attendance quickly grew to 32 children with their parents. Karen said, “I love to hear kids and parents talk about what activities they’ll do at home. One mother said, ‘My child was excited about bridge-building all week!” Additionally, she has documented a dramatic increase in the circulation of children’s nonfiction. (Also the David J. Roberts EXCEL winner)
2009
Bethel Park Public Library | Ready for Kindergarten
“What can we do to help the public schools in their mission?” the staff at Bethel Park Public Library asked themselves. Kinder-Ready Families was the result. From September through May, the program offers a literacy-based “mini-preschool” to children starting kindergarten the next fall."
As libraries we have a special niche when it comes to helping children and caregivers prepare for kindergarten,” Ingrid Kalchthaler, former head of youth services, said. “We can emphasize the amazing and vital world of books.”
Elaine Volpe, children’s librarian, is a certified teacher, and she coordinated the content with the local school district to ensure a smooth transition for participating children. Units included “Me, Myself, and I,” “The Five Senses” and “The World Around Us” and were designed to help meet all early childhood learning standards.
The library is located in the municipal building, so visits from Officer Z. helped the children learn about safety – and reassure parents with fingerprinting. One member of the staff taught sign language to the kids, and another brought Spanish to the program.
To create a family-based educational experience, the parents were involved from the very beginning. They were encouraged to stay during the sessions.
By offering a morning track and an afternoon track, Bethel Park was able to serve 28 families in the first year. They plan to continue the program for the coming year with 36 families signed up to participate.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hazelwood | It’s Real Learning
Sometimes, literacy isn’t enough. For the teenage mothers in Pittsburgh’s public high schools, they need more than books for their children. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hazelwood responded with IT’S REAL (Infants Teens Stories Reading Education and Libraries), a holistic program designed to help teens grow into healthier women.
Ellen Sikov, children’s librarian, and Sara Dora, teen specialist, presented 34 sessions during the school year, attended by 310 student parents at two Pittsburgh public high schools. They focused on how reading can strengthen bonding between parents and their children, followed by distributing books and IT’S REAL “Recipe Cards for Early Learning.”
The whimsically designed recipe cards provide nursery rhymes, favorite children’s songs and poems in a convenient format. Laminated and placed on a binder ring, it can be kept in a purse or diaper bag. Each mother was also given a baby journal to document memories and milestones, add photos and preserve mementoes.
The librarians invited partners to visit the program. Dr. Bruce Rabin, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Health Lifestyles Program, presented on the effects of negative stress on parents’ and childrens’ health. Artist LaVerne Kemp, from the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Residency Program and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, demonstrated the African art of woven prayer or wish amulets.
“We wanted to reach a group we weren’t reaching,” explained Mary Ann McHarg, library manager. “And we were fortunate enough to get funding from PNC’s Elizabeth Shiras Charitable Trust to do so.”
Mt. Lebanon Public Library | Fun on a Sunday
After the winter holidays are over and the doldrums of January have set in, families are looking for things to do. Playgrounds are soggy and cold; movies and the mall can be expensive. Inclement weather can make a family start to feel housebound.
That’s why the Mt. Lebanon Public Library developed Sunday Fun-Days. For six weeks in January and February, the library is the place to be on Sunday afternoons. Storytelling, music, games, and art projects are all designed to beat the winter blahs – and cabin fever. The drop-in program is convenient and easy.
“Sunday afternoon is a time for families,” explained Judith Sutton, head of children’s services. “During the week, parents are working and children are in child care. On Saturdays, kids are involved with sports and other activities. Also, we have many Jewish families who spend Saturday observing the Sabbath.”
Programming includes creative highlights like Craftapalooza, where children were able to explore a variety of art materials and create freestyle projects. Party with Phil celebrated Groundhog’s Day with Punxsutawney Phil puppet. A festival of French songs, along with marching parade of instruments and colored scarves, honored Mardi Gras.
“We get a wide variety of ages at Fun-Days,” said Sutton. “Children range from three years on up, plus we have parents and grandparents involved.”
Sewickley Public Library | Just Say Hola
Madonna Hunt, children’s librarian at Sewickley Public Library, saw another librarian’s Spanish-language storytime and thought she could do it too. “I speak Spanish,” said Hunt, “And seeing her made me think it would be an exciting program.”
¡Hola Amigos! is a half-hour program held once a week for three months. Because of popularity, it has been continued, with a one-month break between programs.
Every session opens with the Hola Amigos song, then an explanation about different languages and how they work. Books, songs, fingerplays, games, and activities come next. One favorites is the “caramelos song” about jelly beans and all of their different colors. During the song, they can say “me gusta” a color, they get a jelly bean of that color. Another favorite is “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” in Spanish, “because they know the hand movements already,” said Hunt. Than the session ends with another song, “Adios Amigo.”
“There is a wealth of Spanish-language materials easily available,” stated Hunt. “There are so many resources that it’s mind-boggling.” She emphasized that she uses authentic Spanish-language materials, rather than the proliferation of faddish options, so that children are exposed to more authentic pronunciation. For example, she uses a song about a frog sung by children in Puerto Rico, which is a great introduction to a foreign language and a culture.
“They may not know where Puerto Rico is or know a foreign language, but they get exposed to the culture,” added Hunt.
Community Library of Allegheny Valley | Growing Friendships
The One Book, Every Young Child program is a powerful tool for bringing people together. At the Community Library of Allegheny Valley, they used the charming book, Up, Down, and Around, written by Katherine Ayres and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, to span the generations.
Judy Errico, children’s librarian, explained, “Years ago, I worked at a child care center. Once a month, we would take the kids downstairs to see the grandmas and grandpaps.” Inspired by this idea, she partnered with Betty Thompson, older adult outreach coordinator, who usually deliver books to seniors in their homes or at nursing homes.
Up, Down, Around, Growing Friendships brought children from a local child care to the Applewood Personal Care Home. First, everybody read the book together. Then the children sang the song they had learned for the occasion, “This Is the Way We Plant Our Seeds,” and acted out the movements in the song. “The adults joined in too,” said Thompson. “No one was shy.”
For an activity, the children were given small cups filled with potting soil. They were told to poke holes in the soil with their finger and insert a sunflower seed into each hole. After planting the sunflower seeds, they were asked questions, like “What do seeds need to grow?” They answered, “Sun, rain, and dirt!” Finally, each child received a copy of the book.
“We were so happy to do this, because many homebound adults have no regular family visits. At the same time, some children have no grandparents in their lives,” explained Errico. “We know it was a success, because we have been asked to do another program!”
2008
Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped| Teaching Children About Differences
Meeting the needs of its diverse patrons - the seeing-impaired, children and adults with multiple disabilities, individuals with reading delays - is the primary job for the Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. But right up there in the library's priorities is its mission to foster understanding and respect for diversity.
Initially Braille is an engaging program that gives children the opportunity to learn about the Braille writing system and the people who use it. The program is presented throughout the library's 36-county service area at festivals and community celebrations. "The program has been a great success," said Kathleen Kappel, library director.
"The big draw is the opportunity for children to create Braille initials of their own name. Using a Braille alphabet poster to learn from, children place raised dots on a card to create their initials. The cards can be worn on a string as the children explore other displays - and have fun answering for others the question written on the card: 'Ask me what this means!' At one festival, virtually everyone stopped by and was wearing a Braille initial tag by the time the event was over," Kappel said.
"The more people of differences are around each other, the less they notice the difference, and instead note the similarities," Kappel said. "If we expose the children and their families early on, it's just like exposing them to people of different ethnicities and different cultures. Greater acceptance of people with disabilities will be, I believe, generational, and we will see it over time. We just can't let the effort drop at any time."
Mt. Lebanon Public Library | Helping Parents Help Their Children
Mt. Lebanon Public Library is a tutoring center for adults learning English and that got librarians Judith Sutton and Connie Mathews thinking about the children of these adults. "We have had a real increase in population, particularly from Eastern Europe and Asia ... so we decided we would work with the school district to try to reach some of these families," said Sutton, head of children's services.
The purpose of the library's Nationality Night was to make the library a welcoming place for families. "We wanted to make them feel welcome in the library. We thought if we could bring them into the library ... they could be introduced to what we have; it would make them feel more comfortable coming in to ask questions and get library cards," Sutton said.
Nationality Night had translators available and featured stories for children, tours, a free book for each child, and information about both the library's resources and services. "We tried to highlight things we have to help them learn English, as well as materials we would have in their native language," Sutton said. "The one thing you want the children to do is to be able to learn English and to be comfortable reading in English. Reading is a real criterion for success in school, as we all know." In addition, children's books are a great way for adults to both learn a new language and share the stories with their children.
Sutton says they now see families coming into the library that had been to Nationality Night, and the library continues to work with the schools and other agencies and groups who serve these newest community members.
2007
Bethel Park Public Library | Rays of Hope
Families who live in homeless shelters may have basic living needs taken care of, but what about children's basic learning needs? When Bethel Park Public Library learned that approximately 3,000 children regularly live in the county's shelters, they partnered with a new nonprofit called the Homeless Children's Education Fund to not only make the 18 county shelters institutional library members, but create and maintain 700-volume libraries in each one.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Mousefest
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a big service area, but staff members have big ideas. To make the most of Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse, the library used its outreach programs to partner with others involved in early learning and reach approximately 3,300 children. Internally, the 70 in-house story times reached approximately 2,000 more. And to take good advantage of Lindsay Barrett George's visit, they showcased the newly renovated Squirrel Hill branch to hold elaborate MouseFests with books, mousy refreshments, and mazes.
Upper St. Clair Township Library | Ready to Read for Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Kindergarteners
How did one library increase reading program attendance by more than 40 percent? The Upper St. Clair Township Library created a fun experience for everyone in the family. With a goal of reaching a wider audience and motivating adults and children to participate in more reading activities, they broadened the goals and created a once-a-week Ready to Read Adventure Day experience.
2006
Mt. Lebanon Public Library | Sensory Storytime
Mt. Lebanon children's librarians developed Sensory Storytime to meet the needs of active children who require a more hands-on approach to learning. Structured around Howard Garner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, this program helps to ensure that all children have the chance to learn the pre-literacy skills necessary to become successful readers.
Sensory Storytimes are offered to children 18 months to 3 years of age and their caregivers. The programs incorporate movement, music, art, messy play, balance, body awareness and other activities engaging the senses. The interactive nature of the program is well suited to toddlers who learn about the world using their body and their senses. Please contact Connie Mathews for more information, 412-531-1912 or mathewsc@einetwork.net.
Sewickley Public Library | Preschool Storytime Plus
The Sewickley Public Library of the Quaker Valley School District's award came in recognition of its Preschool Storytime Plus Program. This program, led by Rita Crawford, Head of Youth Services at the Library and Betsey Wilson, kindergarten teacher at Quaker Valley's Osborne Elementary School, aids paremts in their quest to provide their children with the best learning experiences possible. The program, held weekly at the Library on Thursdays at 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM requires no pre-registration and is open to children and their caregivers from any municipality. Pre-school-age children attend a storytime led by Children's Librarian, Kim Dunderdale, while Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Wilson lead parents in lively and informative discussion in a separate meeting room. While parents and caregivers learn how to choose books for their children, address bullying, sibling rivalry and a variety of other topics, younger children can play with one another in the room with their caregivers winthin arms reach. It is a win-win for everyone.
Please contact the Library at 412-741-6920 if you would like more information about this program and the many others offered at the Sewickley Public Library of the Quaker Valley School District.
2005
Bethel Park Public Library | Adopt a Grandparent Storytime
The Bethel Park Library adapted their emphasis on supporting all ages to create
another pre-literacy opportunity for babies and an outreach to seniors that
stimulates memory and activity. The program involves a library specialist
visiting local nursing homes with caregivers who have babies up to 18 months,
and leading everyone in rhymes, songs and stories. Many of the nursing home
residents with serious memory issues can participate because they remember
childhood songs, love to see the babies, and light up with joy.
Carnegie Library of Homestead | Book Bag Delivery
This simple title masks a big success with an at-risk population. Twice a month,
the children's librarian delivers book bags filled with age-appropriate story books to 25 childcare classrooms in their low-income service area. Once a month, the children
enjoy an interactive story time and learn about other books and activities at the
library. Because the area's hilly terrain and the children's young age discourage walking fields trips to the library, taking the programs to the children is more important. The children's obvious love of the delivered books and story times have
encouraged more families to start visiting and using library services.
2004
Whitehall Public Library | ESL (English as a Second Language) Outreach Services to Children
The school district, local government, literacy council, and ESL preschool and the
library have collaborated to support a sizable and diverse immigrant population in
an apartment complex. The library's programs include two special story times,
which are also promoted through the other collaborating agencies. Once a week
during the school year, the school district transports families from the complex
to the library, where they participate in a story time and educational activities that
support their unique needs. Once a month, the children's librarian presents a story
time in the preschool located at the complex, leaving books for children and
teachers to use between visits. The library's goal is to introduce this special
population of preschool children to language-rich programs and the literacy staples of
childhood development, including being read to and having books available.
C.C. Mellor Memorial Library | On the Go Story Hour
This monthly program is an outreach to the underserved, as well as an opportunity to foster greater awareness of the library and its services to early learners. Each month during the school year, a library staff member brings stories, finger plays and crafts to eight preschools and nursery schools, reaching some 170 children. The children also receivee handouts to share with their parents. In the summer, the program is incorporated with a summer reading club for older children and is offered weekly in borough buildings and parks.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | Straff Training in Early Literacy
Children's librarians throughout Allegheny County have benefited from a rich network of workshops, in-service programs, training sessions, discussions, and working groups created to disseminate the best available information about early literacy and, more importantly, how library programs and services can support it. This extensive and wide-ranging effort includes development of guidelines for age-appropriate story times, incorporate the key elements of early literacy into library programs, and creation of three information-rich brochures for parents of young children. All elements of this training initiative are designed to keep staff on the cutting edge of the educational process, so they can apply new methods and strategies. Because librarians model story time techniques and literacy activities for library patrons, it is important that they provide an informed model for parents seeking to replicate these techniques at home.
Download one of the brochures created for parents of young children:
Talkers (Ages 2 and 3).
For more information about the Best Practices in Early Literacy visit the Pennsylvania Library Assocation: PA Libraries, Learning Starts Here.