Family Literacy Library Services Grant Awards Announced by NY State Librarian

State Library Announces 2009-2011 Family Literacy Library Services Grants
March 1, 2010

Family Literacy library projects will be offered in nineteen New York State counties with the help of grants from the New York State Library, Bernard Margolis, New York State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries, announced today. Ten grants to public libraries and public library systems totaling $510,169 over two years will be awarded to support Family Literacy Library Services projects in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

“New York State’s Family Literacy grants help public libraries and public library systems develop or expand library services to parents, children and caregivers,” said Mr. Margolis. “All of the programs will reach out to families of diverse backgrounds and will provide materials and activities to help them enjoy early literacy experiences together.”

The program theme for 2009-2011 projects is early literacy for children from birth-5. Each project will provide research-based programs, workshops, activities and resources for young families. Parents and caregivers who participate in these projects will have the resources they need to provide rich early literacy experiences at home. Their children will have a better opportunity to enter school ready to read and ready to learn.

Libraries will partner with schools and other community agencies to reach parents and children who are most in need and to increase awareness of the importance of early literacy experiences and resources in young children’s lives. Use of public libraries can provide the early exposure to literacy activities that is crucial for success in school and beyond.

For more information about the grant program, see this page or contact Cassandra Artale, Library Development Specialist, New York State Library/Division of Library Development, (518) 474-1479, or cartale@mail.nysed.gov.

Following are the public libraries and public library systems that will receive NYS Family Literacy Library Services grant awards:

Brooklyn Public Library (Kings County) $75,728 - Brooklyn Builds Readers: Read Together, Play Together, Learn Together

Brooklyn Builds Readers (BBR) will help families integrate play into early literacy activities. A borough-wide public library campaign in collaboration with children’s services providers will highlight the importance of play for childhood learning and the importance of parents as their child’s play partner. Parents and caregivers will be introduced to early learning games during the library’s Babies & Books and Toddler Time sessions and at the library’s First Five Years workshops.


Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (Erie & Niagara Counties) $71,760
- Ready-to-Read, Ready-to-Learn at the Library

The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, with Project Flight and the Buffalo News, will establish a task force to coordinate regional early literacy initiatives, promote community awareness of the importance of early literacy, and provide continuing education to librarians, caregivers and educators. Library Literacy Centers in the Central Library and three branch libraries will provide research-based programs and services to at-risk, underserved families so that their children will be prepared to enter school Ready-to-Read and Ready-to-Learn.


Dormann Library (Steuben County) $65,526 - My First Teacher

My First Teacher will provide resources and programs for families in Steuben County to encourage reading early and often with children.
Programming will be offered in the library and at Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics that serve 500 at-risk families. During the clinics, staff will present literacy activities for mothers and children and give participants a Read to Me bag to take home. Little Red Bookshelves and two early literacy computer workstations will be placed in high-use community service agencies with waiting rooms to provide parents with teaching opportunities on-site and with books to take home.


The New York Public Library, the Branch Libraries (Bronx, New York and Richmond Counties) $75,728 - Daddy and Me @ the Library

Daddy and Me @ the Library will provide important resources for The New York Public Library to reach a traditionally underserved population:
fathers and male caregivers of young children. Recent research indicates that children are better readers and perform better in school when their
fathers have read to them. In partnership with Literacy Inc., the
library will reach out to male caregivers in a wide array of community groups and teach staff how to make these men feel welcome in the library. New programs and materials will be developed to encourage fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, adoptive or foster fathers, teen fathers, brothers, uncles, and other male caregivers to visit the library more frequently and read to their young children.


Olean Public Library (Cattaraugus County) $25,935 - LEAP Forward at the Library

Project LEAP (learn, explore and participate) is a partnership of the Olean Public Library, the Olean Family Connection Even Start, and Parent Education Healthy Families Cattaraugus. Programs and activities will teach pre-reading skills to young children and provide support for parents and caregivers to continue these activities at home. Families will have access to an expanded library collection of early literacy and parenting materials in a variety of media.


Potsdam Public Library (Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and Saint Lawrence Counties) $19,391 - Science in the Library

Potsdam Public Library will partner with Head Start and family literacy programs in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties to build young children’s early literacy skills through science education.
Teachers will learn how to implement science-based literacy programs and will be connected to core science collections in eight public libraries.
Parents will learn how to be their child’s first teacher and enjoy science-based literacy activities at home. Science in the Library is a research-based program supported by SUNY-Potsdam staff and students who will provide science expertise, programs, and support for families
entering projects in an early literacy science fair.


Queens Library (Queens County) $63,026 - Early Literacy Enrichment Program

Queens Library will promote early childhood literacy to new immigrant families. Workshops on early childhood development, toddler reading programs, and support materials will be developed in multiple languages-Spanish, Bangladesh, Chinese, Portuguese and English. The program will be part of Queens Library’s Literacy Zone project to promote life-long learning with a focus on ages one through five.


Richmond Memorial Library (Genesee County) $26,982 - Eat, Read, Grow

Eat, Read, Grow will address two significant early childhood needs:
development of pre-reading skills and healthy nutritional habits. In partnership with Cooperative Extension nutritionists and master gardeners, the library will present programs that teach early literacy skills through hands-on activities, books, songs and finger plays that focus on healthy eating. A guidebook of objectives, materials, activities and resources will be created at the end of the project and distributed through Cooperative Extension and the Nioga Library System.


Seneca Falls Library (Seneca County) $25,750 - Raising Readers

The Seneca Falls Library will partner with local daycare centers, preschools, schools, and other community organizations to implement Raising Readers and to promote the library as an essential early literacy resource. Raising Readers will teach parents and caregivers how to develop reading readiness skills when they read stories to their children. Programs will be held in the library and at partner sites.


Southern Tier Library System (Allegheny, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben and Yates Counties) $60,342 - Beginnings

Beginnings is an early literacy project that will strengthen family involvement in language and pre-reading skills for children from birth to age five. Staff from eight Southern Tier member libraries and their partner agencies will attend workshops on how to use research-based Every Child Ready to Read activities to enhance existing programs.
Following the workshops, the libraries and their partner agencies will work together to introduce parents to activities that are fun and will help their children get ready to succeed in school.