Innovative Partnerships

Bookstart, the UK version of "Books for BC Babies" (or rather, the prototype of Books for BC Babies), is not only impressive in its mission "to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, to inspire, stimulate and create a love of reading that will give children a flying start in life." It's the partnerships that got my brain juices flowing! The organisation has developed some pretty darn impressive partnerships in their efforts to get the kids into the libraries and reading. I love the "book crawl" idea: every time kids visit the library they earn stickers that can then be traded in for "certificates." The certificates have been designed by well-known authors and illustrators. As the website says, they're "lovely keepsakes of children's earliest years as library members." Partnering with authors/illustrators in this venture is beneficial for everyone (it keeps the publishing wheel going...)

I'm also loving the fact that the libraries and booksellers have collaborated... what a concept! Instead of seeing big box bookstores/independent bookstores as competition, the libraries are working with the stores in their early literacy pursuits. They have a token system integrated with the bookstart packages so everyone receives a voucher towards a book in participating bookstores (over 1200 bookstores are involved! Holy smokes that must have been some work to establish). I'm inspired by this relationship- it truly illustrates how libraries have been continually flexible to make themselves relevant and necessary.

The Every Child Ready to Read program is amazing... I love all the resources that come with the site. I have been to a Saroj Gatong workshop before and learnt many practical ways to integrate educating the parents in with storytimes. I find it gets a bit formulaic sometimes- it seems a bit artificial to pop in things about phonetic awareness during a rhyming book- but overall I think the background information gives us a good basis for programming. It makes me realize we're doing so much more than entertaining young ones... we're actually "literacy professionals" who have created programs thoughtfully with a big picture in mind.

Babies are smart

Diane McGuinness, in her book Growing a Reader from Birth, relates a number of studies that have been done on the communicative patterns of babies. My favourite one is the Scottish study that filmed mothers in conversation with their young infants. Here are a few reactions the babies had to mom's soothing voice:

• when mom swayed closer, so did baby
• every time mom made eye contact, they locked onto mom's eyes
• when mom gazed and talked to her infant, she got a bright smile in return
• when her voice dropped in cadence and she paused slightly, the baby would pause with an ooh or a wiggled fist.

Now, when the babies were propped up to watch a replay of the mom's portion on a different day, something really interesting happened. The baby's face lit up "like a ray of sunshine" as soon as mom's face appeared on the screen. As the seconds ticked by, and baby would interject with a gurgle or a happy grunt and mom's response did not fit in with what her baby did, the baby's eyes opened wider. The baby stared harder. Each time he tried to take a turn, and mom didn't respond with the appropriate behaviour, the infant became sober, the corners of his mouth dropped, his brow furrowed, and it was long before he started wailing!

This proves that even at the tender infant age, the conversational dance between baby and mother is recognized as important by the baby. Babies are much more intuitive than people give them credit for! A lot goes on behind those seemingly dozy eyes. This kind of research is fascinating for a new mom, and would be the perfect thing to mention during any type of librarian-led storytime to reinforce the importance of singing/rhyming/reading with your baby. Eye contact and responding to the reactions of babies/conversing with them is CRUCIAL right from birth. According to that study, the babies have basically told us this themselves!

LIBR529: Services for Families and Early Literacy in the Preschool Years

This entry marks the beginning of a new course! We will be exploring all the research around early literacy and language acquisition. For the first week, we were supposed to choose a book from a selected bibliography and pick out five points that piqued our interest for further discussion. Since I did not have access to those books, I found a database article that I would like to comment on: "Babies and Books in the School Library." It is also a nice transition piece from my previous LIS460 posts.

I am a teacher who is VERY eager to return to the schools in a teacher librarian capacity and my tummy does flips at the possibility of integrating a baby/tot program in the school library. As is evident through an early literacy mandate and provinical grant for early learning initiatives in my school district, educators are finally embracing the research that indicates "50% of a person's intellectual capacity is developed before age four" (Dorothy Butler, Babies Need Books). What a fabulous thing that the schools now recognize that the building blocks of early literacy happen before school starts! It makes sense to not only work with the families of school-aged children, but the families of the surrounding school communities to ensure kindergarten readiness. What's that old saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?"

A baby/tot program run through the school library would only lead to wonderful things. It's almost like an insurance policy! During a storytime program, all the songs, rhymes and stories provide ample opportunities to introduce the parent to all of the research about early brain development. If the parents practice the rhymes at home, sing songs, read to their babies and take the research to heart, then their children will have the foundation skills necessary for a positive start in kindergarten. Not only that, they will have a built-in, positive association with books and the library. It's a win-win-win-win situation!!!