RSSLibrary and preschool partner to boost early literacy
Diana LaCount, children’s library assistant, discusses a book with Joann Sarnic, preschool teacher at Chipeta Elementary School. The book is available to preschool children through the new preschool — library partnership.
The Mesa County Libraries and School District 51 preschools have partnered to add another resource to help promote early childhood literacy.
The library had a surplus of children’s books and were looking for the best way to use them. They took the books and created a number of crates filled with books for young children.
The crates are now available for preschool teachers in School District 51 to check-out and use within their classrooms. How they choose to use the books is up to them.
Joann Sarnic, a preschool teacher at Chipeta Elementary, let her students take the books home to read with their parents.
“My kids got 8 to 9 books to take home,” Sarnic said, “They are high-quality books that were read at home with their families.”
The district’s preschools serve children who are at-risk or have special needs, she said. Many of these children do not have access to transportation to the library or have books within their homes.
“Having books within proximity really helps early childhood literacy,” said Gail Yerbic, children’s librarian.
It’s that home-to-school connection that the library and the school district hope to nuture with the new program.
There are five years of learning opportunities for children prior to enrollment in kindergarten, explained Christy McGee, communications coordinator for the school district. “Although this program is school-based, we want to reach these children before they start school so they are successful in the future,” she said.
Yerbic said the partnership with the school district would be the pilot audience to determine resources and demand for this type of program. If successful, she’d like to offer the book crates to other early childhood education centers throughout the valley.
“You really can tell the difference of whether they were read to or ot before they reach kindergarten” McGee said.
Yerbic also said the program was a great way to introduce the library to preschool students. “Our underlying goal is to create life-long library users,” she said.
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