Ohio Ready to Read Library: Every Child Ready to Read 2nd Edition Activities
Ohio libraries adopting ECRR2 have developed new partnerships, workshop adaptations, and creative ways to share ECRR2 concepts with parents and caregivers. Have you had success introducing ECRR2 in your community? Email us your ideas, program outlines, outreach targets, etc., and we'll add them to this collection.
- The Ashtabula County District Library has incorporated ECRR2 concepts into storytimes, daycare visits, and Head Start classroom visits, but also into
school visits to 6th and 10th grade
students! Library staff visited a Geneva City Schools 6th grade career exploration class and a 10th grade parenting class. During these visits to Exploratory Skills and
Life Skills classes, library staff introduced ECRR2 concepts to the 6th graders as part of a daycare story time, and to the 10th graders as
part of steps a parent would take to prepare a child for school. The students also learned tips on reading picture books to children. For more information about this innovative outreach
to young teens, contact Barb Tack.
- The Greene County Public Library purchased ECRR2 toolkits for each of its locations and offered in-service training for youth services library staff. The library
then presented 13 ECRR2 workshops with a total attendance of 243 people, and incorporated ECRR2 activities into all its storytimes. Youth Services Coordinator Kay Webster
reports that teachers from the local GRADS programs (for teen parents) found that their students were much more engaged when learning about the Five Practices than they had
been when the library staff used the Six Skills terminology. One of the library locations used teen volunteers to help with the workshop activities for the Fun with Science and
Math workshop. For more information, email Kay Webster.
- The United Way of Ottawa County started a program for volunteers to visit local preschools and read to children who had scored low on the Get It, Got it, Go screening.
Volunteers were trained using the ECRR2 toolkit, with workshops led by Jennifer Buch at the Ida Rupp Public Library. Participants learned how to do a picture book walk and how to
engage children while sharing books. Thirty-four volunteers have participated in the training. Thirty children at a local Head Start were read to twice a week. The United Way
also provided a book each month for each child to take home and keep. The participating Head Start received positive feedback from parents about the reading program, and saw an
increase in the Get It, Got It, Go scores for the final screening of the year. The United Way Recruiting Readers program will be an ongoing program in Ottawa County. For more
information about this program, contact Jennifer Buch.
- At the Wayne County Public Library, children's staff created the Come And Play (CAP) program to provide parents with children birth to 30 months a place to play, learn and
gain support from other parents. An informational and interactive display is featured to highlight one skill and one practice. This display
changes weekly. Here is a summary of the display contents, so you can replicate it in your library! CAP features activities for parents and children to investigate while in the program, which go with the skill or practice being highlighted. A staff member circulates
among the attendees, demonstrating ways for parents to incorporate ECRR2 techniques in their daily interactions with children. This program
summary provides more details about CAP.
Wayne County children's staff also created a gallery display with all the ECRR information, which incorporated both the Six Skills and the Five Practices, along with promotion of upcoming workshops.
Wayne County children's staff presented a program to Wayne County Career Center students who wish to work in the child care profession. The morning session highlighted ECRR information. The presenter explained and then demonstrated the various components of the Six Skills and Five Practices. At the beginning of the afternoon session, each student selected a book from the collection to share with a child. The presenter interacted with the students discussing the choices made and offering suggestions as to how to present the book. The children from the Career Center Day Care came to the library for an hour-long story time session. The students and the children sat together while the staff member presented a typical outreach story time. The students then shared their chosen book with their child.
Library staff has noted that several non-English speaking families attended early literacy programs and seemed to benefit from the information. Some of the activities helped both the parents and their children learn more about English letters and words. Several of the Chinese mothers were excited that the library had included Chinese blocks in the circulating game collection and at the CAP program. Staff has also noted increased interaction at the public services desk with ESL families after these families attended ECRR programming.
Children's Department Manager Barb Landers reports that combined programming with partner organizations has been very successful. The Wayne County OSU Extension office scheduled cooking and nutrition classes for preschoolers and their caregivers enrolled in ESL classes, Head Start and WIC in the library's conference room on some Friday mornings to coincide with the CAP program. The Extension staff encouraged these families to come to the department and participate in CAP, register for ECRR workshops and get library cards. Several of these families became regular participants in ECRR activities and participated in the summer reading club. For more information on WCPL early literacy activities, contact Barb Landers.
- Warren-Trumbull County Public Library's youth services staff planned and presented a Family Book Day in April 2012 that featured ECRR information and sample early
literacy activities, along with a musical performance, puppet show, and family storytime. The library also included ECRR2 and Five Practices content in an annual workshop
presented in collaboration with the Ohio State Extension office, for students working toward the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Inspired by the desire to promote
the Writing practice, the library purchased a product called Magnatab for each location. The Magnatab is a board with letters made out of channels of tiny metal balls,
that are brought to the surface when a child traces them with a magnetic stylus. According to youth services coordinator Lori Faust, the Magnatab has been a huge hit. For more
information about the WTCPL's early literacy activities, email Lori Faust. (Please note this information does not imply an endorsement of
Magnatab by the State Library of Ohio or Ohio Library Council).
- The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County presented a parent workshop for parents and children
in the SPARK program (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) at an urban branch. Workshops have also been presented off-site for Early Childhood students at the
Mahoning County Career and Technical Center; for members of the local Altrusa chapter; and for parents and staff who participate in monthly policy council meetings for Head Start.
The library is using this overview of ECRR2 to share information with community organizations. Contact Josephine Nolfi, Manager of Children's Services, for more information on the
library's early literacy outreach programming.
Many of the activities profiled above were developed by libraries in conjunction with a 2012 LSTA grant program that provided public libraries the ability to purchase the ECRR2 toolkit.