Entries For: January 2010

Foundation for Early Learning is delighted to feature a guest blog post from Whitney Edwards, a librarian at Libraries of Stevens County, a member of the Early Learning Public Library Partnership. If you are interested in being featured in the Foundation's blog, please contact Joel Ballezza, Communications Manager at joel@earlylearning.org.

There are wonderful perks to raising a child in a small and rural town (great local food and mountains out your back door!), but there are also some challenges, especially in the realm of early learning. Thankfully, the public library can help fill the early learning gap. 

Stevens County, in northeast Washington State, is twice the size of Rhode Island and has a population of only 42,000. The largest town, Colville, has a population of just 5,000. This rural county often struggles with the challenges of distance (only 9.5% of the population lives within incorporated city limits) and the scarcity of living-wage jobs. 14.5% of Stevens County is unemployed, well above the national average, and 15.9% of the population falls below the poverty line.

Also alarming is how few early learning programs there are in the county. There are often not enough spots at the local Headstart programs for kids that qualify as low income, let alone additional children. There are few other preschools to choose from and most are part-time. Preschool teachers are often unable to travel to costly early literacy trainings in Spokane or further away. And with no public transportation system and some people living as much as 50 miles from the nearest town, many families cannot afford to take their child to preschool at all. 

But this is where public libraries are in a unique position to serve. Libraries bring early learning to the child and caregiver.

In Stevens County, the library is one of the only county-wide institutions. With nine branches and an online presence, the library provides the community access to books. It may seem obvious, but this access is key to early learning. When money is tight, books are a luxury that many families cannot afford without the library.

Because getting books into a child's hands is important, the Libraries of Stevens County teamed up with the Colville Library Improvement Club to provide all babies born at the Colville Mt. Carmel Hospital with a copy of The Real Mother Goose  - and a packet of information on early literacy for the parents.

Partnering with local community groups, the library also brought early literacy experts to Stevens County to give free workshops to parents, daycare providers, and pre-school teachers.

Storytime is a staple program at many libraries, but in a rural community, Storytime is often the only regular (and free) program for kids. Six Stevens County libraries provide weekly preschool Storytimes. The library also carries Storytime Kits that contain five books on a theme, related props, and a card with suggested rhymes and activities. These kits are used by parents for home Storytimes, or borrowed by daycares and preschools that are learning how to provide Storytimes.

As a new parent myself, I want our rural community to be a place of opportunity for my daughter. Thanks to the library and its partners in early learning, I think it can be.

-Whitney Edwards

Libraries of Stevens County

Do you or your organization have fun, child-focused arts activities that you would like to demonstrate as part of the 2010 Northwest Folklife Festival? Apply today for the chance to be included in this great event. Details about the process are included below, or for more information, contact Daniel Atkinson, Folklife Festival Outreach Coordinator.

Joel Ballezza

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Northwest Folklife is looking to add some new programming to Folklife Commons for the 2010 festival (May 28th-31st).  The Folklife Commons is a family-friendly area located in the green space south of the Space Needle and east of the Pacific Science Center. The Folklife Commons includes:

• Hands-On Activities Area – These booths offer craft and educational activities to encourage Folklife audiences to try their hands at something new. Past activities have included: Italian lawn bowling, making mosaics, mural painting, and circus tumbling. We look for a mix of activities that attract a variety of ages.

• Folklife Discovery Zone – This is an outdoor workshop space where younger Folklife participants can learn new skills, such as dancing, playing music, storytelling and more.

If your activity is included this year, Northwest Folklife will provide the booth (with sidewalls), tables and chairs for your activity, as well as grid mat to protect the grass. Northwest Folklife will also provide one 8’x2’ sign with your organization name and activity on it. You may bring additional signage and promotional materials and are encouraged to decorate the booth.

 

CALENDAR OF DEADLINES:

Applications Due                                    Friday, January 29, 2010 (late apps considered)

 

Tech Information Due                              Friday, February 12, 2010

 

Publicity Materials Due                           Friday, February 26, 2010

 

Confirmation Packets Mailed                   Week of April 19, 2010

 

Background Check Info Due                    Friday, May 7, 2010

 

If you are interested participating or would like more information, please contact Daniel Atkinson at (206) 684-7015 or daniel@nwfolklife.org

 

Yesterday several early learning bills were heard in the House Early Learning & Children's Services Committee. The three bills heard, HB 2431, HB 2731, HB 2867, are very important to early learning and the children that they will impact. Many early learning supporters turned up to testify. While I wasn’t able to be there I watched the testimony online and was pleased to see so many people testify.

Susan Anderson-Newham, an early learning supervising librarian with Pierce County Library, was one of the many who testified. Susan talked about how important it is to align and associate early learning with formal education. As a librarian Susan is also in touch with many other librarians nationally and others nationally are impressed with what is happening in Washington.

Two Sheriffs with Fight Crime Invest in Kids talked about why they as law enforcement want to see including early learning in the definition of basic education. Both of the Sheriffs see the value of supporting families early in life as a way of deterring crime. Sheriff Jim Barrett, undersheriff in Mason County, argued that we cannot continue to allow early learning funding to be discretionary; when it is discretionary it can be cut in lean times. He went on to say: “Seventeen years ago I would go to the same type of homes, challenged homes... Five years ago those kids were getting into trouble… now as an administrator of a jail I’m seeing those kids get incarcerated [for] a long time… we’re seeing the [results] of not taking action early.”

Jon Gould, our partner at the Children’s Alliance, represented the Early Learning Action Alliance of which the Foundation for Early Learning and the Early Learning Public Library Partnership are members. Jon reminded the committee that it is time to stop meeting and to bring these essential services to Washington’s children. Hannah Lidman of the Economic Opportunity Institute said that early learning helps to prevent and close the opportunity gap. Several of our coalition members also testified. It was wonderful to watch coalition members talk about why early learning is important to them.

There is more work to be done; it is a short 60 day session, ends March 11, 2010, and a lot of ground needs to be covered before then. Children can’t wait and we need to speak up. Please email your legislators and tell them why early learning is important to you. Children’s Alliance is organizing a rally on Monday, February 15. This would be a great place to lend your voice. If you would like to get more involved please also feel free to connect with me, erin@earlylearning.org, your voice is important.

Our Getting School Ready booklets offer parents from multiple cultures simple tips on how to ensure their kids are healthy and ready for school. In total for half of a fiscal year, we've distributed 25,459 booklets in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali, Korean, Russian and Cambodian. This doesn't include all of the downloads and people who view the booklet online. We also have an mp3 version available in Oromo!

Interested in a Getting School Ready booklet for yourself, family, friends or organization? Check out www.gettingschoolready.org. We'll ship up to 25 booklets to you free of charge.