Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy took our mission of being “Passionately committed to strengthening children’s literacy through library services and community advocacy” one step further this year by creating four annual Mini Grants of $500. Sponsored by the CLEL Membership Committee, one of the requirements is that grant recipients must be members of CLEL. Fifteen …
Melody Garcia / CLEL Communications Chair As librarians we focus on getting children ready to read in the first five years. In our storytimes and programs we reinforce pre-reading skills and strive to instill a love of books and reading in young children. The reality for many children though, is that no matter how prepared …
Notes From the Member Meetup by Kelly Allan, CLEL Steering Subcommittee Chair Every other month, CLEL members are invited to come together for Member Meetups. Held virtually, these hour-long sessions are a way for members to connect with colleagues across the state in a casual, conversational atmosphere with topics driven by member survey results. So …
Jessica Fredrickson, Emeritus CLEL Training & Advocacy Chair According to the American Library Association (ALA), 2022 is a record breaking year for the number of attempts to ban or restrict library resources in schools, universities and public libraries. In fact, it’s the highest record of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling these lists more …
by Betsy Brainerd (Arapahoe Libraries) & Melody Garcia (CLEL Communications Chair) We followed up with CLEL’s 2021 Hero Award winner, Betsy Brainerd, for some words of encouragement. Betsy is the Early Literacy Supervisor for Arapahoe Libraries and was nominated last year in recognition of her work with the Begin with Books program and ongoing support …
Do you sing counting songs in storytime? Do you talk about more and less? Or read stories that compare sizes and shapes? You may be doing more to increase early literacy in your storytime than you realize! New research shows that children with a strong foundation in early math gain greater proficiency in both math …
April is National Poetry Month and the perfect time to remember author and photographer, April Pulley Sayre. Although she never self-identified as a poet, her lyrical rhymes and rhythms partnered with stunning nature photography have always been on my list of go-to picture books when I want to share poetry with young children. And there …
Jessica Fredrickson/ Emeritus CLEL Training & Advocacy Subcommittee Chair After a year of group study, our last Project READY cohort met in February. We looked at our webcams, each unwilling to be the first one to log off. How could it be over? Of course, it’s not really over. One of my biggest takeaways from …
Angela McCaffery / West Custer County Library District For a few years now the West Custer County Library has been hosting a playgroup. The weekly playgroup is for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. The playgroup was originally started by a patron. She asked if she could use the children’s area in the Library once …
On February 10, members of the CLEL Steering Committee testified before the Colorado Senate Education Committee on SB22-004: Evidence-based Training In Science of Reading.* CLEL asked that the committee either remove libraries from the bill or postpone it and meet with all relevant library stakeholders to write an amendment with greater consideration given to particular …
