December 6, 2007

San Jose Public Library's ‘Books for Little Hands’ celebrates 10-year milestone

More than a hundred people gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on Nov. 27 for a reception celebrating the 10-year anniversary of San Jose Public Library's early literacy development program, Books for Little Hands. The program provides early literacy development resources and workshops for early educators and parents.

"For 10 years, Books for Little Hands has been helping young children grow up with a love for reading," said Judy Chirco, District 9 Council member and council liaison to the Early Care and Education Commission. "By exposing children to books, we can expand their vocabulary, prepare them to succeed in school, and help ensure that they get the best possible start in life."

Recent research on children's brain development has shown that a child is born with billions of brain cells and as a child experiences the world and people around him, connections between these brain cells are made. By the time a child is 8 months old, the number of these connections in the brain totals over 1,000 trillion. The number of connections increases until a child is 3 or 4 years old.

Repeating experiences and interactions helps to hardwire these connections in the child's brain. These experiences become the foundation for later learning. Regular face-to-face interactions, like being read to, actually build the literacy skills needed for future proficiency in reading and writing.

Books for Little Hands is the outgrowth of a pilot program (Stop and Drop) begun in 1997 in response to a needs assessment, which indicated that local child care providers were interested, but lacked materials and in some cases, expertise to provide the kinds of experiences that promote early literacy development.

The initial offering was the "Classroom Book Bag" containing a selection of age-appropriate books selected by children's librarians to be ready for a quick pickup by time-challenged preschool and childcare providers for use in their classrooms. The books were selected on the basis of their suitability for reading aloud.

A starter collection of 720 books was quickly used by care givers at 24 preschool and child care sites. Demand has grown steadily and the program now serves 459 sites, circulating 465 Classroom Book Bags drawing on an inventory of 9,300 books. Materials are selected with the intent to honor multicultural diversity. Bilingual books and materials are increasingly available (predominantly Spanish and Vietnamese), based on customer demand and available resources for acquisition. More than 8,000 children were served through the program in fiscal year 2006/07.

Ongoing development of the program is a collaborative effort relying to a high degree on feedback from current users. The following changes are the direct result of user feedback: In 2001, officials added three components to the program: Curriculum Idea Kits--books, puppets, music, and other hands-on materials with suggestions for activities; My Books and I--books for children to take home and share with their families and tips for parents on promoting early literacy at home; and Early Literacy Education--educator and parent/child workshops, and tip sheets.

In 2003 officials expanded Early Literacy Education by adding a literacy specialist that enabled development and delivery of additional educator and parent workshops, as well as more tip sheets

In 2004, the program's outreach focus was further reinforced through its alignment with Smart Start San Jose and under the newly created administrative unit, Early Care and Education Services.

At the Nov. 27 reception, program coordinator Rosa Leon-Monday announced a new pilot component to the program, focused on serving the needs of families using Family Learning Centers at Dr. Roberto Cruz - Alum Rock, Hillview and Tully Community branch libraries.

"Books and More!" will extend the "Curriculum Idea Kit" concept to home use. Use will enable parents to reinforce their children's classroom experiences, creating a relationship of collaboration with educators so essential to academic success.

For more information on the Books for Little Hands program, visit www.sjlibrary.org/services/early_care/b4lh/index.htm or call (408) 808-2621.

Over the years, Books for Little Hands has been indebted to many community organizations for their support, with more than 20 helping support the program. Without their generous support, the success celebrated this year could not have been realized.