During CLEL's November 19th Annual Meeting, several members presented poster sessions about cool early literacy programs and services offered at their libraries.
Early Literacy Bookmarks
Jefferson County Public Library has created their own early literacy skill bookmarks, both in English and Spanish, to hand out to parents and caregivers. These bookmarks offer basic information about each of the six early litearcy skills using lay terminology; they also include suggestions for relevant books to read from JCPL's collection.
Jefferson County Public Library Early Literacy bookmarks:
- Know Letters: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_letters.pdf
- Learn New Words: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_words.pdf
- Love Books: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_lovebooks.pdf
- Play With Sounds: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_sounds.pdf
- Tell Stories: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_tellstories.pdf
- Use Books: http://jeffcolibrary.org/pdf/kids_usebooks.pdf
Contact Mary Kuehner for more information:
Mary.Kuehner@jeffcolibrary.org
Play Literacy: Busy Buzzy Bugs and Curious Kids Meet Mother Goose
Poudre River Public Library has developed "play literacy" programs. These are activity sessions for preschoolers designed to model the ways in which play can build early literacy skills. You can read more about these programs here.
Contact Vicky Hays for more information:
vhays@poudrelibraries.org
Summer Reading for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
The Denver Public Library launched a summer reading program in 2009 designed expressly for children under 6 years old! The young children each had their own reading records which highlighted early literacy skills. DPL staff and volunteers discussed the importance of early literacy with every parent and caregiver who signed up a young child for the program.
The Arapahoe Library District also has a special summer reading program for babies and toddlers that incorporates early literacy activities. See ALD's 2008 reading record here.
For more information about the Denver program, contact Carol Edwards:
CEdwards@denverlibrary.org
For more information about the Arapahoe program, contact Melissa Depper:
mdepper@ald.lib.co.us
Outreach to Home-Based Daycares
The Southern Peaks Public Library also has an early literacy outreach program to home-based daycares called Storybox Special! Book sets, along with early literacy information, are delivered monthly to home-based daycares. In order to be eligble for the monthly book sets, daycare providers must first attend one of the library's early literacy workshops. Read more about it here!
Contact Babette Reeves for more information:
children@alamosalibrary.org
The Pikes Peak Library District is reaching out! Their Grow a Reader program was inspired by Southern Peaks' Storybox Special! Grow a Reader provides literacy kits consisting of books, manipulatives, and information about early literacy to home-based daycares in their service area.
Informational booklets that circulate with the kits are available on the PPLD website and can be accessed here.
Contact Nancy Maday for more information:
nmaday@ppld.org
Baby Library Cards
Douglas County Libraries welcomes every baby into the library with their own library card! Kits with a Rosemary Wells "Read to Your Baby" book, a keepsake bookmark, a letter to parents about the importance of reading to their children, and an application for a Baby's First Library Card are handed out at area hospitals to new mothers.
Contact Priscilla Queen for more information:
pqueen@dclibraries.org