Welcome to this PLA -sponsored program! ECRR – Implementation Tips!

Every Child Ready to Los Angeles Public Library Alicia Rodriguez, Children’s Librarian Cypress Park Branch, LAPL

The Los Angeles Public Library 72 branches and a Central Library. Each branch has a Children’s Librarian. No Early Childhood specialists or Outreach Librarians.

Children’s Librarians Received a 2-hour training on the ECRR 2 workshop in summer Were expected to present at least 3 workshops in the community between September 2011 and June 2012.

Our ECRR 2 Workshops Librarians use a laptop or tablet and projector to show ECRR 2 PowerPoint They give out brochures, booklists and (when available) books to parents

Placards If equipment isn’t available, each branch has a set of laminated 11” x 17” placards Slides are on one side, talking points are on the other

Evaluation Project 2 investigators – Dr. Cindy Mediavilla and Dr. Natalie Cole 6 branches – 3 in the Central Southern Area and 3 in the Northeast Area 12 workshops – a basic and a follow-up Between September 2011 and March 2012

Purpose of Evaluation Are workshops effective? Do parents: –Gain new knowledge/understanding of early literacy techniques to use with children? –Read (talk, sing, play, write) more with children at home after attending workshop? –Visit library more after attending workshop? How can workshops be improved? –Implementation tips

Methodology At first workshop : Pre- and post-workshop question “What can we do to help kids get ready to read?” Post-workshop survey Observation of parent reaction during workshop

Methodology (cont.) At follow-up workshop: “How have you been helping your children get ready to read?” “Have you visited the library since the last workshop? More than usual?” Surveys Observation

Input from Children’s Librarians How have the workshops been going? What challenges have you encountered? What response have you gotten from community members? What changes would you recommend be made to the workshops and/or workshop process?

Findings 85% of parents strongly agreed that “I learned that my children need help getting ready to read.” 84% of parents strongly agreed that “I learned ways to help my children develop early literacy skills so they are ready to learn in school.”

Findings (cont.) After first and second workshop, parents demonstrated a greater knowledge of early literacy techniques Parents at the second workshop who had attended the first workshop indicated that they had been reading, playing, singing, and talking with their children Most parents visited the library at least once between the first and second workshop

Other Observations Parents responded well to the workshops; they enjoyed the slides (whether via PowerPoint or placards) and the videos They particularly enjoyed any chance to participate and interact, such as…

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz + \ ** [ = ) ] ~ : ]] { ++ } // ^ ! [[ (( >> \\ | [ * <#. Reading is learning the code. The decoding exercise…

Singing helps your child get ready to read. Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are. Singing: Singing and doing finger rhymes…

And crafts, activities, and experiments parents can do with their children! Matching games! Sock puppets! Color-changing milk!

Drawbacks of Report Very small-scale – 6 branches out of 72, and only 12 workshops Hard to get the same parents to come back to second workshop, so longitudinal aspect was not as successful as hoped

What Next? Continue using ECRR 2 workshop model – it works! Use the Spanish version when it becomes available More training for children’s librarians to incorporate interactive elements Create task force to figure out how to best present workshops across our diverse city

For more information – Eva Mitnick, Youth Services Coordinator – Find the full evaluation report at everychildreadytoread.ning.com