Early Learning Spaces from Your Library

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Since 2015, the LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail (partnering as the Laundry Literacy Coalition) have been focused on the role of laundromats in promoting children’s early literacy development. The Coalition works to provide greater opportunities to deliver high-quality early literacy resources and outreach programs directly into local self-service laundromats in underserved communities. In 2018, the Coalition developed “Laundry and Literacy Kits” to place inside of laundromats and conducted several subsequent studies to measure whether these centers increased the amount of literacy activity with young children.
Beginning in 2022, both LaundryCares Foundation and the Idaho Commission for Libraries began incorporating non-laundromat partners in our efforts to provide literacy centers (aka “early learning spaces”) in rural and urban communities throughout Idaho. We are proud to support six early learning spaces in non-laundromat sites in Idaho in health clinics, community centers, a veteran’s center, and a Boys & Girls Club. In 2024, we re-branded our program to include this expansion from “Idaho Libraries & Laundromats” to “Early Learning Spaces from Your Library,” though the premise for the program and it’s goals remain the same.

The Research
Family Read, Play, Learn Centers

“Family Read, Play, Learn Centers” are the design and creation of the Laundry Literacy Coalition. Working with Lakeshore Learning and Scholastic, these centers are uniquely designed to create safe, fun, and engaging places for children and families in laundromats. “Family Read, Play & Learn” spaces are equipped with literacy-rich materials to support children’s early brain and language development and are a meaningful way to serve communities and customers.
Early Learning Spaces from Your Library
In 2020, the ICfL began a pilot project to bring literacy centers to Idaho through partnerships between local public libraries and laundromats. Based on the findings of the New York and Chicago studies referenced above, the intent was to establish “literacy-rich spaces” in local laundromats and take advantage of laundry wait times by bringing books and other early literacy materials to children and families utilizing laundromats in rural settings, as well as low-income suburban and urban communities. The ICfL piloted this project with three Idaho libraries in the fall of 2020 through spring of 2021. Several program expansions have occurred in the last few years and today, in 2024, ICfL and our library partners now support and maintain early learning spaces in 24 communities across Idaho.




This project aims to…
- Serve families/caregivers with young children, who are unable or unlikely to visit the library, with early literacy services.
- Support families/caregivers in their efforts to prepare their children for kindergarten.
- Utilize laundromat wait times to offer early literacy resources to children and families.
Laundromat Learning Resources:
- Seeking inspiration? Consider: “Soaps, Suds, and Stories: Early Literacy at the Laundromat” by Elizabeth McChesney and Marisa Conner
- Want to learn more about what’s involved in setting up a new center? Check out: “Laundry & Literacy: Laundromat Outreach Guide for Librarians”
- Is your Idaho public library interesting in bringing an early learning space to your community? ICfL no longer purchases these literacy centers and provides them to interested Idaho libraries, but your library can receive funding for a literacy center by applying for an ICfL K Ready Grant in July each year. Contact Staci Shaw with grant questions.

This program is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.