'Every Child Ready for School' trains caregivers to inspire young children to learn

CHICAGO — The topic of early literacy hasn’t lost any of its momentum in educational circles. But early literacy storytimes are only one way libraries can contribute, and this innovative training handbook offers many more. Reflecting the combined expertise of a reading specialist, an outreach librarian and an early literacy trainer, “Every Child Ready for School: Helping Adults Inspire Young Children to Learn,” published by ALA Editions, keeps libraries at the forefront of early literacy and school readiness information delivery. Authors Dorothy Stoltz, Elaine M. Czarnecki and Connie Wilson focus on training the caregiver, presenting models that can be easily adapted to state-mandated school-readiness requirements. This handbook:

• Explains how to help day-care providers, homeschoolers and others who care for young children foster school-readiness skills among their charges;
• Arms librarians with a step-by-step workshop model, with tips on implementing and evaluating the program;
• Provides guidance for coordinating workshops with other library early literacy initiatives;
• Includes resources and activities to share with participants.

Stoltz coordinates outreach services and programming at Carroll County (Md.) Public Library. She spearheaded a successful early literacy training research study, which showed statistically significant increases in early literacy skills of children. With more than 25 years of experience in public libraries, she oversees early literacy training, peer coaching, programming, mobile services, community outreach and grant projects, including “Parents as Teachers,” at her library. She is the author of several articles in professional journals. In 2011 she became a member of the ALSC/PLA Every Child Ready to Read Oversight Committee.



Czarnecki is a literacy consultant with the firm Resources in Reading in Annapolis, Md. She teaches at Johns Hopkins University and is a former elementary school–based reading specialist. She provides professional development in the area of emergent literacy to children’s librarians across Maryland and has given similar workshops in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Since 2001 she has provided consulting services for a variety of library initiatives, including the Emergent Literary Training Assessment Project. She has co-authored two articles for Public Libraries.



Wilson recently retired after 21 years in librarian and supervisory positions at Carroll County (Md.) Public Library. Her original career encompassed 10 years of social work in New York. She has led various literacy workshops for parents, child care professionals and librarians in Virginia and Pennsylvania. She was the lead program trainer for Maryland and Delaware Library Associate Trainees. She is a national and international conference presenter and has co-authored two articles for Public Libraries.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. ALA Editions publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5418 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.

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