Bibliography

1. Davis, Robin Works. Toddle On Over: Developing Infant and Toddler Literature Programs. Fort Atkinson, WS: Alleyside Press, 1998.

2. DeSalvo, Nancy N. Beginning with Books: Library Programming for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers. Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications, 1993.

3. Ernst, Linda L. Lapsit Programs for the Very Young II. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2001.

4. Jeffery, Debby Ann. Literate Beginnings: Programs for Babies and Toddlers. London: New York: American Library Association, 1995.

5. Lerner, Fred. The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 2009.

6. Marin, Jane. Babies in the Library. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.

7. Nichols, Judy. Storytimes for Two Year Olds. American Library Association, 2007.

8. Schuette, Shirley and Nathania Sawyer. From Carnegie to Cyberspace: 100 Years at the Central Arkansas Library System. Little Rock, AR: Butler Center Books, 2010.

Sample Questionnaire

This survey from Debby Ann Jeffery's book Literate Beginnings: Programs for Babies and Toddlers can be adapted to fit your needs.

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Sample Baby-Toddler Program Questionnaire

Date____________________

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire. Your answers will help plan future programs for you and your child.

Name____________________________________________________(Optional)

Address__________________________________________________(Optional)

1. How many children attend the program with you? ___________________
2. Child/children’s ages? _________________________________________
3. What is your relationship to the child? ___________Parent/legal guardian

___________Other family member ___________Babysitter/nanny

___________Other (please specify)______________________________

4. Where did you find out about the Baby-Toddler Program?

___________Library Flyer/poster ___________Friend/neighbor

___________Other (please specify)______________________________

5. Is the program day and time convenient for you? _____Yes _____No

If no, when would be a better day and time? _________ Saturday

___________Weekday (please specify) ___________________________

___________Morning __________Afternoon ___________Evening

6. Did you feel the material was appropriate for the children?

Books _____Very _____Somewhat _____Not appropriate

Finger Games _____ _____ _____

Songs _____ _____ _____

Puppets/Feltboard ______ _____ _____

Film/Video ______ _____ _____

7. Do you find the program handout sheets helpful during the program?

______Yes ______No ______Sometimes

8. Do you find it helpful to take he program handout sheets home?

______Yes ______No ______Sometimes

9. How often do you repeat elements from the program at home?

______Often ______ Sometimes ______ Never

10. Has your child’s interest in books, songs, and finger games changed

since attending the program?_____No Change ______More interested

______Less interested

11. Since attending the program, do you spend more time with your child?

Reading books? ______Yes ______No

Singing? ______Yes ______No

Doing finger games? ______Yes ______No

12. Did you have a library card before you attended the program?

______Yes ______No

13. Did your child have a library card before you began attending the

Program? ______Yes ______No

14. Do you check library materials out when you attend the program?

______Yes ______No

15. Would you recommend this program to other people with young children?

______Yes ______No

16. What do you like best about the program?
17. What do you like least about the program?
18. Do you have any suggestions or comments?

Evaluate!

As meaningful and worthwhile as programs for babies and toddlers are, many libraries, including the Little Rock Library, fail to document their success. “Measurable factors include attendance, circulation, and survey responses. Other evidence of the program’s results may be anecdotal in nature, including positive comments from participants, letters from the public and interest from the news media or other libraries. This evidence should be gathered and documented in reports and files that can be produced to justify the program. Weaknesses as well as the strengths should be evaluated to come up with possible solutions to problems. Questionnaires filled out by program participants are a good way to gather information directly from those being served.”[i]

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[i] Jeffery, Literate Beginnings, 10-11.

For More Information

Children’s librarians can access a trove of information by joining professional library and reading organizations and associations, such as the International Reading Association (www.reading.org) and the American Library Association (www.ala.org). These organizations have local affiliates and divisions for specialty areas like children’s services. They also offer professional conferences and webinars, listserves. Scholarships are sometimes available for librarians and students to attend conferences through these organizations. Some employers subsidize the cost of joining professional organizations and attending conferences.

Early literacy information and programming ideas may be found in the books listed in the Bibliography and on the following websites:

www.reachoutandread.org

www.readingisfundamental.org

www.readtome.org

www.getreadytoread.org

Training

Libraries with budgets for staff training would do well to consider hosting an expert to conduct a workshop to teach children’s librarians why and how to conduct programs for infants and toddlers. Speaker expenses could be offset by inviting parents, teachers, and neighboring library staff and charging a fee to attend. Robin Davis, author of Toddle On Over, Developing Infant and Toddler Literature Programs, recommends that children’s librarians who are considering starting their own program “find someone in a nearby community who already has experience and arrange to go there and observe.”[i]

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[i] Robin Works Davis, Toddle On Over: Developing Infant and Toddler Literature Programs (Fort Atkinson, WS: Alleyside Press, 1998) 13.

Funding

Starting a storytime for infants and toddlers does not have to cost a great deal of money. Most libraries already offer programming for older preschoolers, and have the material resources necessary to get started - a children’s librarian, simple picture books, puppets, flannel boards, etc. A professional resource such as the Mother Goose On The Loose Guide and Kit is an invaluable and relatively inexpensive tool. Funds for guidebooks may be available from library collection budgets or from Friends of the Library groups.

Libraries and Communities Benefit, too!

Libraries, too, benefit from offering programs for the very young. When libraries create a welcoming atmosphere for families by offering effective programming, providing relative and appropriate materials for them, and modeling for parents the best way to share early learning experiences with their children, these families become users and supporters of the library, ultimately improving the communities in which they live.[i]

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[i] Jane Marin, Babies in the Library (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003) 2.

Infant Programs are Parent Programs

Children’s librarian and author, Nancy De Salvo, points out in her book, Beginning with Books; Library Programming for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers, that “infant programs are parent programs. Though constantly bombarded with advice from experts, parents need to know how to choose what is right for their children. Many need help with how to interact with their children. They need assistance with selecting appropriate materials for their children. The children’s librarian, in the non-threatening atmosphere of a public library, can be the one to provide these important services.”[i]

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[i] Nancy N. DeSalvo, Beginning with Books: Library Programming for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers (Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications, 1993)15.

Who Benefits?

While the children themselves are the most obvious beneficiaries of library programs and services for the very young, the programs produce other positive results. Parents and caregivers who attend storytimes for the very young “report that doing so provides quality time for them to be with their children. It makes them feel good because they know they are doing something beneficial for both themselves and their children. Adults also report that they just plain enjoy coming together with other people to share the joys of books, songs and finger games.”[i]

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[i] Debby Ann Jeffery, Literate Beginnings: Programs for Babies and Toddlers (London: New York: American Library Association, 1995) 1

Emergent Literacy

Storytimes for Toddlers and Babies include elements which encourage the development of skills associated with emergent literacy, the period between birth and the time when children can read and write, including

· Vocabulary – knowing the names of things

· Print awareness and motivation – learning basic rules of written language and showing an interest in and enjoyment of books

· Writing – making a variety of marks, lines, circles, scribbles, letters

· Phonemics – being able to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds in words.[i]

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[i] Diamant-Cohen, Mother Goose On the Loose, 3.

Storytimes for Babies

Baby storytimes are not just a simplified version of traditional storytimes. Baby storytime follows a script, starts and ends with the same songs, and includes many of the same rhymes and activities from week to week. The program includes nursery rhymes, movement activities, and reading a different and very simple book each week. Over time, many of the elements used during baby storytime have found their way into the library’s toddler and preschool storytimes, providing continuity for the children as they grow up and attend more advanced programs.

Storytimes for Toddlers

Using Judy Nichols’ book, Storytime for Two Year Olds as a guide, the Little Rock Library began to designed and offer toddler storytimes for children between the ages of eighteen and thirty-six months. These programs were shorter, simpler versions of traditional preschool storytimes, consisting of picture book readings, storytelling using flannel boards, and other visual props, and interactive songs and finger plays.

Child Development and Brain Research

A vast amount of research in the area of early child development and brain science took place in the 1990's. In the words of Judy Nichols, author of Storytimes for Two Year Olds, this “research into the brains of babies and toddlers has revealed that children learn much earlier than was once thought and early learning actually enhances the complexity of their brains. We now know that babies and toddlers need to be enriched with language (rhymes, songs, and stories), movement, and visual stimulation, all integral parts of a toddler storytime.”[i]

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[i] Judy Nichols, Storytimes for Two Year Olds (American Library Association, 2007) Preface, ix.

Timeline

Providing services for these tiny library patrons did not happen overnight. For many years a more typical storytime audience consisted of young children who could at least walk and talk.

1910
in the Library’s recently published history, From Carnegie to Cyberspace, One Hundred Years at the Central Arkansas Library System, it is noted that children’s programming began during the first year the library was opened in 1910. “Storytime sessions were held on the Saturday nearest Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The programs proved so popular that beginning in January, 1911, storytime met every Saturday morning.”[i] To this day, the library holds storytime each Saturday morning.

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[i] Shirley Schuette and Nathania Sawyer, From Carnegie to Cyberspace: 100 Years at the Central Arkansas Library System (Little Rock, AR: Butler Center Books, 2010)33-34.

1990's
The Library launched the “Read To Me” program, funded by the Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries, in which parents of infants and toddlers were encouraged to sign their children up for library cards. Upon doing so, the child received a free board book. The Library also began conducting Toddler Programs for two year olds and began a board book circulating collection.

2006
The Library hosted a workshop to train children's librarians to do baby storytimes featuring Betsy Diamont-Cohen, author of Mother Goose On the Loose Handbook and Kit. The Library has been offering storytimes for babies using this model ever since.

Monday Mornings

Every Monday morning at the public library in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, a parade of strollers rolls through the building’s big, automatic glass doors, past the circulation and information desks on the ground floor, and up the elevators to the Youth Services Department on the third floor. Moms, dads, nannies, and grandparents come to take the youngest of library patrons to “Baby Storytime”. Library staff with smiling faces move out from behind the public service desk to greet them, many of them by name. Newcomers are welcomed as special guests, and are escorted to the storytime room. Thus begins a weekly ritual that puts babies on the road to a lifetime love of books, reading, and learning.