Idaho Commission for Libraries

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.

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

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