preschool literacy initiative

public librarian recruitment

certification

PLA/NICHD Partnership

The Public Library Association (PLA) has formed a partnership with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This partnership will include the following initiatives:

• disseminate the National Reading Panel Report, released in April 2000, and the NICHD research findings on how children learn to read; and
• build public library services for preschool children based upon the findings in the NICHD research.

In 1997 Congress called upon the NICHD to create a National Reading Panel to identify research-based practical findings on how children learn to read. The National Reading Panel’s report, Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction, was released in April 2000. It can be ordered, free of charge, through the NICHD web site at www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrppubskey.cfm. The thirty-two-page report and twenty-minute video summarize the recommendations of the report for parents, daycare providers, and community leaders. NICHD officials were concerned that parents would not have access to the important educational findings. PLA offered to help disseminate this report through our country’s public libraries. The report and video should be considered an essential addition to all public library collections.

This partnership also will include public librarians working with researchers in the field of emergent literacy to create model projects for public libraries. NICHD has conducted longitudinal studies on reading readiness and the development of reading skills in children. With recent research expanding our knowledge of what helps children develop the skills necessary to learn to read, we can design better library services for parents and children.

To assist with our understanding and distribution of recent research, PLA has contracted with Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst of SUNY/Stony Brook and Chris Lonigan of Florida State University to develop model programs for public libraries to use with preschool children and with their parents and caregivers. A program for parents and caregivers will show how they can be more effective partners in preparing preschool children for learning to read. A program for preschool children will model effective methods of improving vocabulary development and awareness of sound and print structure. An advisory committee of Lori Tart, Davidson County Public Library; Sari Feldman, Cleveland Public Library; Rose Dawson, District of Columbia Public Library; and Susan Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, will work with Whitehurst and Lonigan on this project.

The intent of the partnership and programs is to firmly establish public libraries as a partner in the educational continuum, and to validate our contribution by linking our activities to relevant research. Public librarians are not teachers, but our work does influence a child’s development. We believe that by showing how our programs reflect recent research, we can be more effective in our communities.—Harriet Henderson, Past President, Public Library Association, Montgomery County (Md.) Public Libraries; (240) 777-0012; hendeh@co.mo.md.us.