#4 Reports B. Literacy Grant
Project Evaluation for LSTA Literacy Grant hedb11 – 224 ($15,780)
Describe the project (what was done, when, how, and by whom).
List the objectives from the original grant proposal.
Describe the end results or outcomes, including any changes to the original objectives.
Explain how partnering agencies were involved in the project.
Are there follow-up plans or an interest to continue this project?
“Early Literacy Achievement: A Community-Based Partnership” was designed to enhance and
increase the early literacy skills of children from infancy through preschool. This goal is being
achieved by providing public and school librarians and early childhood education teachers with
the best early literacy development strategies to use in their story- and circle times. An
additional goal of the this project is to continue to cultivate community partnership in order to
teach others these strategies and promote the urgency of early literacy skill-building to parents,
the first and most important teachers of their children.
The timeline for the project was changed due to the hold-up in federal funds, but the major
objectives either have been met or are still being worked on. One additional difficulty proved to
be the dissolution of the early literacy partnership with School District of Janesville library media
specialists whose jobs were completely changed during the course of this grant year. The lack
of early funding also resulted in the loss of some of our Head Start partnerships because they
could not afford to absorb the money required for substitute hours for their staff. In fact,
economic pressures on schools and public libraries have impacted all of the partnerships
originally intended for this project.
That said we feel that this project has been and will continue to be highly successful. It has
changed the way we at Hedberg Public Library (HPL) provide storytimes and other programs to
our customers. It has changed the ways in which we work with outside agencies. Most
importantly, it has changed the way outside agencies view our work – we are now seen as an
important component of literacy education in our community.
The following is an outline of the work accomplished through this grant and the work we are
looking forward to as a result of what we have learned through this project:
Because the initial disbursement of money was not enough to pay for the planned
workshop, Bryan J. McCormick, HPL director, advocated for our library foundation to
allocate the difference in order for us to proceed with the training, which we saw as the
lynchpin of the project.
A two-day workshop was held on May 19-20, with Saroj Ghoting and Dr. Betsy Diamant-
Cohen as presenters. Ms. Ghoting and Dr. Diamant-Cohen are two of the foremost
experts in early literacy training. Seventy people participated in the workshop.
Invitations to the workshop were sent to all School District of Janesville library media
specialists and early childhood teachers, all of the directors of the Preschool for
Janesville (P4J) sites, Rock and Walworth County Head Start sites, Arrowhead,
Lakeshores, and South Central Library Systems, tutors at the Literacy Connection, and
students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information
Studies.
Prior to the workshop, Dr. Allison Kaplan, UW-Madison SLIS, conducted a survey of
early literacy storytime practices with HPL staff and adult caregivers attending HPL
storytimes.
An online survey was sent to workshop participants. Results and a follow-up survey are
being handled by Dr. Allison Kaplan.
HPL youth services staff spent the summer determining how to most effectively
incorporate what we learned in the workshop into our storytimes: Baby Lapsit (infants),
Baby Walkers (12-24 months), Tales for 2s and 3s, and Tales for 4s and More (ages 4-
6).
September 2011 saw the roll-out of HPL’s “remodeled” storytimes that include early
literacy strategies and tips for adult caregivers. This new model has been warmly
received by adults and children. Another survey of staff and adult caregivers will be
conducted this spring by Dr. Kaplan.
The grant administrator filed a budget revision request in September to use monies
previously allocated for the workshop to purchase imaginative play equipment for the
HPL Children’s Room. The request was granted.
P4J teachers provided input into the purchase of materials for the early literacy kits. This
input was quite valuable and changed some of the focus of what will go into the kits.
These materials, along with the Launching Young Readers DVD sets, and the
imaginative play equipment were purchased in December 2011, spending out all of the
money that had been funded by the grant.
Continuing the project:
Sharon Grover, grant administrator, Julie Westby, HPL children’s librarian, Dr. Kaplan,
and Ms. Ghoting will be presenting a workshop on this project at the Association for
Library Services to Children National Institute in September 2012. The workshop, titled
“What difference does it make? The impact of early literacy training on youth services
staff,” will explore the short and long term effects of the training on the library staff will be
presented as well as observations from parent participants of the programs making this
one of the few studies to find out what parents/caregivers are getting from changes in
programming.
HPL staff is folding their new knowledge of early literacy strategies into a variety of
programs. In 2010, working with the Friends of the Hedberg Library, we developed a
packet for parents of newborns called “Growing a Reader.” This will become the theme
for all of our early literacy programs and continue on through our school-age programs
as well. We will be implementing a summer reading component for babies and toddlers
this year, a “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program beginning this fall, and are
looking forward to hosting our first P4J after-hours family fun program which will, of
course, focus on early literacy skills. We are also exploring new ways to interact with
teen parents to help them learn the importance of early literacy. Our local botanical
gardens has also invited us to partner with them to increase reading skills in our
community.
The imaginative play equipment – a train set and a kitchen/store – have proved to be
just what was needed in our department. Children are interacting not only with each
other, but also much more with their adult caregivers. They are counting, sorting by
colors, and doing lots of talking about their play. It’s wonderful and it’s given us the
impetus to create other areas in the Children’s Room to foster this kind of learning
through play.
Comments & Stories
IMLS is gathering information to add strength to future endorsement of LSTA program funds. Please
share comments about the project. Stories and anecdotes indicating that the grant had an impact on the
targeted audience are encouraged.
Having this grant has completely changed our attitudes about how we provide service. Without
the workshop, none of this would have happened. The training really opened our eyes to new
ways of working with children, families, and community organizations. This is especially
important in the face of economic downturn and the problems facing our schools.
Submitted by Sharon Grover, Grant Administrator, 2/15/12