6-12 (elementary/middle school) | Page 15

Vermont Center for the Book has amassed an extensive, multifaceted bibliography

For each of the four topics, the Vermont Center for the Book has amassed an extensive, multifaceted bibliography of children’s picture books, a long list of related projects and activities, suggestions for independent discovery centers, and a selection of recommended resources and manipulatives.

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What's the Big Idea? Science and Math at the Library for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

"What's the Big Idea?" emphasizes child-directed, hands-on exploration

A feature of the program as a whole is its devotion to the principles of scientific and mathematical investigation. The key is personal acts of discovery. “What’s the Big Idea?” emphasizes child-directed, hands-on exploration rather than adult-mediated instruction. Direction is provided in the form of open-ended, curiosity-provoking questions…

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What's the Big Idea? Science and Math at the Library for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

Four elements seemed to generate excitement about the public librar

Four elements seemed to generate excitement about the public library: the ability to check out many titles at one time, the ability to choose what to read, the availability of family programs, and the fact that all of the above came at no cost.

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Libraries, churches, and schools: The literate lives of mothers and children in a homeless shelter

Libraries supported events that tie to the community

As institutions, libraries supported events that tie to the larger cultural practices of coming together as part of a community

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Libraries, churches, and schools: The literate lives of mothers and children in a homeless shelter

Children explore their own interests

The availability of many titles meant children could explore their own interests and develop a sense of reading as an enjoyable activity. Asking for specific books and requesting help from the librarian was one way to claim competence as a reader and as a learner.

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Libraries, churches, and schools: The literate lives of mothers and children in a homeless shelter

Children discussed their favorite texts

In fact, multiple resources were mentioned as ways to find books and materials, including public libraries… Children discussed their favorite texts at length and in detail, sometimes making intertextual connections between a book and the film rendition, at other times listing favorite genres, series, and authors.

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Libraries, churches, and schools: The literate lives of mothers and children in a homeless shelter

States Ranking in the Top Half on Reading Scores, Ranked in the Top Half on Circulation

Of states ranking in the top half of all states on reading scores, more than four-fifths (82 percent) ranked in the top half on circulation of children’s materials per capita… Conversely, four out of five states (83 percent) in the bottom half on reading scores also rank in the bottom half on children’s circulation…

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The Link between Public Libraries and Early Reading Success

Link between children’s materials circulated by public libraries and fourth-grade reading scores

State-by-state data released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in November 2007 provides evidence of a strong, positive link between the amount of children’s materials circulated by public libraries and fourth-grade reading scores on the same agency’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

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The Link between Public Libraries and Early Reading Success

Efforts of public libraries to promote early literacy pays off

But by using readily available data about reading scores, children’s services in public libraries, and adult educational attainment, this analysis supports the widespread belief that the efforts of public libraries to promote early literacy pays off in terms of higher reading scores during elementary school. There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between children’s services in public libraries and early reading success at school.

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The Link between Public Libraries and Early Reading Success

Attending Library Programs Helps Reading Scores

Of states ranking in the top half on reading scores, seven out of 10 (70 percent) ranked in the top half on attendance at children’s programs per capita… By contrast, seven out of 10 states (70 percent) in the bottom half on reading scores also rank in the bottom half on children’s program attendance…

Reference:

The Link between Public Libraries and Early Reading Success