What It Looks Like in Our Library

Reading the article about Colorado Public Libraries' Programs and Practices made me think a lot about what we offer at the library I currently work at. So far, we do one story time a week and are adding a story time for babies at the end of this month.  Our library is part of a larger library district, which offers an "ages and stages" training about child development and literacy. They also provide a form for planning the story times which includes a space for rationales about why certain stories or songs were chosen based on early literacy skills. However, to my knowledge, no formal early literacy curriculum has been adopted and the outreach and training we provide parents depends a lot on the training and initiative of the individual doing story time.

Reading the things that Colorado has done to promote early childhood literacy really fires me up about doing something similar in our area. Heaven knows that the parents and schools in our area need the help. However, the biggest problem we face is the lack of manpower and training. The person in charge of children's programming at our library has very little background in the subject, though he has been to the trainings provided by the district. Furthermore, the library is woefully understaffed, forcing our reference and programming people to spend most of their time helping out the circulation people. Even suggesting such an idea right now is enough to make my coworkers want to set me on fire.

Unlike my coworker, I have an extensive background in literacy instruction. I was an English teacher for six years and did graduate coursework for a Reading Endorsement, which focused on literacy development and intervention. As for language development, my best friend in college was a linguistics major who would frequently regale me with newfound facts about Chomsky's LAD and the importance of Broca's area. I went on to study the topic further on my own when my husband and I decided to raise our daughter bilingual. I wanted to know how our decision would affect her development, so read all the research I could get my hands on.

Early literacy and language development is a subject I'm passionate about, so it galls me that I can't do anything yet with my ever expanding knowledge. However, there was one suggestion in the article that I think I can talk my coworker into: putting up monthly displays about each of the pre reading skills such as phonemic awareness and print awareness. I previously volunteered to help my coworker put up some displays in the children's area. Perhaps this will be a case of killing two birds with one stone. Granted, it's not enough, but it's a start.