Idaho Child Care Reads
The Idaho Commission for Libraries sponsors the Idaho Child Care Reads program. The program has the following goals:
- 1) Children hear at least one story a day in child care and at least one at home.
- 2) There are adequate numbers of appropriate books in child care settings.
- 3) All providers are trained to promote language and literacy.
- 4) Parents are encouraged to talk and read to their children at home.
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5) The entire community is involved in promoting literacy.
- Idaho Child Care Reads Application packet in a PDF format
or in a Word version. Fill out the form and mail, fax or e-mail it to the Commission for Libraries. Applications from public libraries interested in the program are accepted throughout the year and will be granted as funding allows.
If you have any problems downloading these pdf forms, please call Nancy Reese or Stephanie Bailey-White at 1-800-458-3271 and we'll mail an application packet to you.
Idaho Child Care Reads Background Information
Research shows that providing quality books, training, and library information to child care providers increases the frequency that children are read to and helps achieve the goals stated above. Evaluations from past years have been very positive. Child care providers have said they have learned new literacy techniques and plan to increase the amount of time they spend reading and interacting with the children in their care. Since 2002, librarians and their community partners have provided workshops for 395 child care providers who care for over 6,200 young children.
Supporting Research:
A large-scale study of child-care centers found that television sets were more prominent in low-income child-care centers than books. Over 80 percent of these centers lacked book corners, age-appropriate books, and other print materials for young children (Neuman & Celano, 2001).
Almost 60% of the centers surveyed buy less than 50 books per year, even though they are likely to enroll more than 65 children each year. (National Survey).
In two-thirds of the early childhood classrooms across the United States there are fewer than 50 children’s books. In fact, over 28 percent of classrooms, according to the directors of the programs, are likely to have less than one book per child. (National Survey).
According to the survey, only 26 percent of the books in the collection are in good condition, 49% are considered adequate, and 25 percent are described as in poor condition.
Additional Resources:
For more information about how Idaho libraries can work with child care providers to promote literacy see Outreach to Child Care Providers.
Librarians participating in the program can access extra Idaho Child Care Reads pledges, certificates, and participant evaluation forms here. Librarians need to complete a one-page summary report after the workshop.
Access for All: Closing the Book Gap for Children in Early Education, by Susan B. Neuman, Donn C. Celano, Albert N. Greco, and Pamela Shue. International Reading Assocation, 2001.
Library Programming for Families with Young Children, by Sue McCleaf Nespeca. Neal Schuman Publishers, 1994. This book has great ideas for book titles, songs and information on how to reach families and young children.
Idaho library story kit projects
Contact Stephanie Bailey-White
Contact Peggy McClendon
How to do a Books in a Bag Project in your Community
How to do a Books in a Bag Project in your Community
Our goal as librarians and educators should be to get as many books into the hands of as many children as possible.
One way of providing access to more books is by implementing a "Books in a Bag" or Story Kit project. They go by many names -- Kids Packs, Together Time Bags, Book Buddies, Story Kits -- and more, but the concept is the same, package a bunch of age-appropriate quality books together, put them in a bag and get them circulating to young children in your community!
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Story Kits and Deposit Collections
Storytime Kits: Many libraries have compiled storytime kits that can be used by early childhood educators, parents, or caregivers. Some kits are theme-based, while others, which stay at centers for a longer period of time, contain a large number of developmentally appropriate materials. Kits often include picture books; early childhood resource books; musical cassettes; puppets or other realia; and activity sheets that contain songs, finger plays, and other language activities. Some also include public-performance videos, flannel-board sets, games or toys. Kits are usually circulated in two ways: Early childhood educators pick up the kits at a library or agency, or kits are dropped off directly at he early childhood centers or home-care sites. The advantage of librarians and others dropping off kits is that they reach more people who probably would not make the effort to pick them up. For many caregivers, the convenience of having the kits delivered to their sites means they read to their children more often. Some libraries have staff members or Friends' groups deliver kits. Another major advantage of kits is that early childhood centers often cannot afford to buy many books, and thus have few good books to read to the children or must read the same books over and over again. Unless they stop at a library frequently to borrow books, children often have few good books read to them on a regular basis.
Deposit Collections Housed at Child Care Locations: Several libraries house a collection of books at child care providers or Head Start sites. Teachers can check out books and then take them back to their centers. Some just use the books in the centers, while others allow the children to take the books in the centers, while others allow the children to take the books home for the family members to read. This often resolves the problem of parents getting to the library with their children.
[Ideas from Library Programming For Families with Young Children by Sue McCleaf Nespeca]
Creating the Kits / Tips and Ideas from Librarians
- Write out your objectives and outline your plan. Decide who your target audience is -- child care providers, parents, home schooners, a school partnership, etc. What age groups are you going to focus on? Decide how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the project.
- Secure funding. Kits can run from $8 - $30 or more per kit depending on what you put in them. See the funding opportunity page for grant ideas. Make plans for how you will sustain the project and plan on replacing items as they get worn.
- Select themes for each bag if you decide to use themes. Some libraries just pick four to six good children's books and videos for different age groups. Child care providers may prefer themed kits, while parents may prefer the convenience of grabbing a preselected set of materials they can read with their child.
- Decide what items to purchase for each kit. If you're just starting out, you may want to start simple with books and a puppet, for example, depending on your objectives. Many libraries include games and manipulative which require more staff time to count and account for, but they are popular too.
- Write an introductory page to be included with each kit (see sample).
- Select and compile fingerplays, songs, and activities into easy to use formats. Decide if you are going to let people keep these sheets and replenish them, or if you go with the "laminated" model. See the resource section for great ideas from other libraries.
- Process items for each kit. Use stickers or stamps to identify the books that belong with the kits. Use a permanent market to mark puppets, games, videos, etc.
- Create a master list of items for each kit. Include the replacement price for items.
- Create master folders or a binder with all the original copies of papers, etc.
- Promote your project. Work with community partners to get the word out. If you can, find a way to rotate the whole project through as many recipients as possible -- even if this means a staff member delivers a new kit to a child care provider each month. Remember the goal is to get as many books into the hands of as many children as possible. Some libraries work with child care providers to check out the bags to parents when they pick up their child. This is a real service to busy parents! Prepare a press release so your community knows what a great idea this is. Think of other creative ways to advertise their availability.
Additional Resources:
King County Library System's Books to Grow On Kits. Explore this link to discover books, finger plays, poems and songs to share with toddlers and preschoolers. Click on an underlined theme topic and be taken to great ideas for books (click box content) and activities to extend stories. This is a great resource. http://www.kcls.org/webkids/btgo/index.cfm
Seattle Public Library's "Begin With Books" Project. Curriculum Theme Kits for Child Care Providers and Baby Boxes for Parents and Child Care Providers. http://www.spl.org/children/beginwithbooks/splkits.html
Library Programming for Families with Young Children , by Sue McCleaf Nespeca. Neal Schuman Publishers, 1994. This book has great ideas for book titles, songs and information on how to reach families and young children.
Contact Stephanie Bailey-White
Contact Peggy McClendon
Outreach to Child Care Providers
- Why Reaching Child Care Providers is Important
- Ideas for Library Outreach to Child Care Providers
- Ideas from other Idaho Libraries
- Child Care Outreach Resources
Other pages:
Why Reaching Child Care Providers is Important
During the first three years of life, important intellectual and emotional development is taking place in young children that has a profound impact on their success later in life. Libraries have long recognized the importance of serving children, and many libraries have adopted "Preschooler's door to learning" as a primary or secondary role.
In Idaho, 56 percent of the children under the age of six have either both or their only parent in the workforce [1990 U.S. Census data, reported in 1996 Idaho Kids Count: Profiles of Child Well-Being]. It is estimated that 162,100 children ages 0 - 12 are in need of child care [Kids Count Special Report: Idaho Works if Child Care Works]. Because patterns for caring for children have changed, libraries are looking at alternate ways to reach children with library services. One way they are doing this is to provide outreach services to child care providers in their communities. If your library is just getting started, here are some things to consider.
Ideas for Library Outreach to Child Care Providers
Do a needs assessment to find out . . .
- who is providing child care in your community
- how many children they serve
- what their training/resource needs are to nurture young children's emerging literacy
- what other resources are available for child care providers in your community
Develop outreach services, which could include . . .
- rotating collections of materials for day cares
- professional development materials for day care providers
- theme kits of materials for day care staff to use
- training for child care staff on such topics as book selection, how to read aloud, and storytelling techniques
- providing child care staff with information about the library and reading to distribute to parents.
Collaborate with other organizations serving daycares to . . .
- provide information and referral about services available in your community
- cosponsor or supplement training on reading-related topics
- create new services and resources
- reach new library patrons by providing information to parents through daycares
More Service Ideas
Storytimes
- Invite child care centers to storytimes at the library.
- Have child care providers and children visit the library on a regular schedule, e.g. once a month. If they live too far away to walk, help them look for transportation.
- Visit child care providers at their place of business.
- Have volunteers do storytimes for day cares, either in the library or at the day care.
- Create Child Care Storytime Kits based on themes. Include books, puppets, fingerplays, songs and activities for each kit.
Summer Reading
- Sign child care providers sign up to participate in your summer reading program.
- Have child care providers participate in summer reading programs at library.
Training
- Provide training on how to conduct storytimes, e.g. select theme, books, fingerplays, etc.
- Offer a tour of resources at the library or a special open house or get-together. Schedule it in the evening when child care providers are available to come to the library without their children. Highlight materials of interest and talk about ways to use books in literature-based programs.
- Sponsor or cosponsor seminars on child development.
- Offer to talk or give a presentation to parents at a child care center.
- Send library staff to training that increases their skills and knowledge about children's issues.
Day Care Fair
- Cosponsor a day care fair. Invite area day cares and in-home day care providers to set up a table at your fair. Advertise and invite parents to tour the fair to learn about day care options in your area.
Resources
- Create a special shelf or area of your library for materials of interest to early childhood educators. Label a parent-teacher shelf and include materials on such topics as children's literature, activity books for adults to use with children, and other parenting books, e.g. discipline, child development, nutrition and health care, information on educational activities, etc.
- Provide age-appropriate and subject-appropriate lists of books. Provide handouts, brochures, and take-home activity sheets on a regular basis. Send new book lists or a list of recommended books to child care providers along with a coupon or an invitation to come to the library.
- Help child care providers develop specific subject units, focusing on good children's literature.
- Consider rotating a collection of books to the child care centers in your community or provide bulk loans if your collection is large enough.
- Purchase magazines of interest - Copycat, Totline, Kidtivities by Kidstuff, and/or Healthy Child Care, for example.
- Purchase videos. Include adaptations of children's books as well as instructional videos for providers.
- Provide child care storytime kits which can be as extensive as you like. Some libraries keep them fairly simple; others are very extensive and include videos, games, etc.
- Consider circulating educational toys and puppets.
- Add sites of interest to your library's home page.
- Have a pamphlet file or other area where child care providers can leave information about their facilities for patrons to view.
- Purchase music in a variety of formats.
- Consider circulating nontraditional items like flannel board stories, etc.
Collaboration and Public Awareness
- Work with other area agencies to find out what services they are providing, to whom, etc. Serve on a child advocacy board, if possible.
- Ask agencies what you can do. Don't duplicate services.
- Consider waiving fines for child care centers. Allow extended loan periods or increased numbers of books for child care centers. Issue cards in the name of the center.
- Display child care student's artwork at the library and invite their parents and grandparents to come and see it.
- Advertise the services and resources you are providing in whatever manner you can. Write brief "blurbs" about new parent-teacher materials for the local Child Care Resource and Referral office's newsletter. Try to get an article published about your services in your local paper.
Ideas from other Idaho Libraries
The Hayden Branch Library, in conjunction with the Coeur d'Alene School District #271, has started the Day Care Outreach Program to help develop literacy in young children. Children's Librarians Irma Anderl and Karen Schmidt select an assortment of age appropriate books to present during the storytime. Each time a librarian visits the day care, approximately 20 books are left at the site for about three to four weeks. Storytime takes place once a month and each month a new selection of books is brought along. In addition to the stories, the librarians bring along songs, poems, fingerplays and a suggested hands-on project. They also provide handouts for parents that encourage them to read to the children no matter how young. "Children enjoy being read to and we believe exposure to books at an early age is important," Anderl said.
A second goal for this program is to offer role modeling for the day care provider as to how a storytime works. The librarian also offers help in choosing books and other materials that will enhance any projects planned by the provider.
Through the financial support of the Title I Program and the Coeur d'Alene School District, the library was able to purchase a wide variety of books specifically designated for the program. The library also participates in the Idaho Public Television First Books program which allows them to distribute 20 books to at-risk children in the Outreach Program. (staff reports, 5-6-98)
The Latah County Library District provides storytime kits for in-home daycare providers. Each kit is theme-based and contains three books, fingerplays and songs, activity ideas, and a puppet or other object for creative play. The kits are appropriate for use with preschool and primary grade children. The kits were made possible by the Friends of the Moscow Library.
American Falls District Library also provides storytime kits for child care providers.
Nez Perce-Lewis County Free Library District recently received a $1,788 grant from the Idaho Community Foundation to create preschool story time kits for day care providers. Pierce Public Library also received $590 from the Idaho Community Foundation to purchase preschool story time kits.
Boundary County Free Library District visits area child care providers once a month to present a story time and leave a rotating deposit collection of age-appropriate materials.
Boise Public Library is now offering two opportunities for child care programs to take advantage of their storytimes. One is called "Book-a-Tale" and is for 3-5 year olds meeting each Wednesday and Thursday. The newest opportunity is "Tadpole Time". This program is offered for children who are 2 or 3 and is scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. The librarians asks that child care programs call to schedule their time in advance and that they only visit these storytimes no more than once per month. The librarians will also pull collections of books in advance for child care programs with a 2 or 3 day notice.
Child Care Outreach Resources
Periodical Articles
"The Child Care Connection: Reaching Children in Day Care," by Judith Daniels Dwokin. Public Libraries, July/August 1993, p. 209-211. Contains an appendix page with a sample of the book list used for child care connection kits.
"Raising the Quality Quotient: Library Outreach to Child Care Providers," by Donna J. Dengel. School Library Journal, July 1994, p. 36-39.
Videos Available from the Idaho Commission for Libraries
Head Start Emergent Literacy Project Series
Emergent Literacy: What and Why?, v. 1
Designed to help teachers and parents understand the concept of emergent literacy and how it has a natural role in the development of young children. It describes the characteristics of homes that encourage the development of literacy in young children. (1996. 16 minutes.)
Creating a Print Rich Environment, v. 2
Designed to help teachers and staff incorporate the concepts of emergent literacy into their classrooms. It will also provide ways for teachers to read to children to encourage the children's literacy development. (1996. 23 minutes.)
Creating a Classroom That Supports Emergent Writing, v. 3
Describes the type of classroom that a teacher can create to encourage young children in developing their writing. It will help teachers design methods and procedures for incorporating writing into the preschool curriculum. (1996. 19 minutes.)
Creating a Literate Environment in the Home, v. 4
Helps parents to become aware of the literacy events that occur naturally in the home. It shows parents how to respond to these events in ways that will support their child's literacy development. (1996. 16 minutes.)
The Library Head Start Partnership
Explores the scope of the Library-Head Start partnership and how local partnerships can work. Also describes a variety of possible library programs, provides criteria for deciding what makes good books, and how the presence of library materials supports the educational and emotional experiences of children. (1995. 38 minutes.)
Reading and Young Children: A Practical Guide for Childcare
A great video for those who work with young children and want to learn more about how to make their childcare facility a place where reading and books are a part of every child's day. (1991. 10 minutes.)
Books Available from the Idaho Commission for Libraries
Beginning with Books: Library Programming for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers.by Nancy D. DeSalvo. Library Professional Publications, 1993. [ISL 027.625]
Early contact with books can make lifelong readers. This book covers why programming for this age group is important, and includes 24 sample programs and good lists of books, recordings, videos and toys to use. The author also shows how to influence at-home reading, organize a community-wide TV Turn-off, and promote pre-reading activities in all kinds of ways.
Books, Babies, and Libraries: Serving Infants, Toddlers, their Parents and Caregivers.
by Ellin Greene. American Library Association, 1991. [ISL 027.625 GREENE]
Covers the library's current role in early childhood learning and parent education; early child development and learning; emergent literacy; collections; program planning; networking and outreach; and planning, implementing and evaluating library services.
Library Programming for Families with Young Children.
by Sue McCleaf Nespeca, Neal-Schuman, 1994. [ISL: 027.625 NESPECA]
This is a complete how-to guide for planning storytime programs for the whole family. It includes several fully developed sample programs as well as bibliographies of resource books for various program components, such as poetry, music, flannel boards, fingerplays, etc.
Managing Library Outreach Programs: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1993. [ISL 027.4 TROTTA ]
This useful book from the Neal-Schuman how-to-do-it series includes sections on reaching out to new parents, day cares, teachers' in-service, homework centers, mall storytimes, and doctors' office collections. Other highlights include how to work with volunteers and other partners. This is very valuable if you are considering any type of outreach.
Serving Families and Children Through Partnerships: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians.
by Sandra Feinberg and Sari Feldman, Neal-Schuman, 1996. [ISL: 027.6 FEINBER]
Covers getting started; coalition building; building family support services; funding basics; evaluating; building a family support collection and has a lot of resources listed.
Internet Links
Scholastic's Early Childhood Today online magazine. Prepared for early childhood educators. Contains activity ideas and curriculum suggestions in English and Spanish.
http://place.scholastic.com/ect/index.htm
King County Library System's Books to Grow On Kits. Explore this link to discover books, finger plays, poems and songs to share with toddlers and preschoolers. Click on an underlined theme topic and be taken to great ideas for books (click box content) and activities to extend stories. This is a great resource. Books to Grow On: Thematic Kits for Toddlers and Preschool Children This link provides access to the contents of thematic kits including book titles, poems, songs, videos and finger plays to share with toddlers and preschoolers. Compiled by the Children's Outreach Librarian of the King County Library System for use by child care providers and parents.
Special Thanks
Some of these ideas were adapted from "Day Care Outreach," a presentation at ILA Regional Conference, Lewiston, ID, April 22, 1997, presented by Ellen Harter Wall, former Youth Services Librarian, Latah County Library District, and from an article by Miriam Hansen published in Shortcuts, a newsletter produced by the Indianhead Federated Library System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, July, 1995.
Contact Stephanie Bailey-White
Contact Peggy McClendon