from the beginning
Young Toddler (15 months to 2 years)
The Library: A Special Place for Baby and You
Overview Ordering Booklet Current Project Past Initiative
Project
Overview
Babies &
Books is a Mid-Hudson Library System literacy initiative promoting
early language development awareness and skills expertise in families
with newborns up to age 3. The System works with public libraries in a
5-county area in New York: Putnam, Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia, and Greene
Counties.
Current
Project
Ordering
Booklet
The
Mid-Hudson Library System continues to make available the English version
of the publication you see reproduced on this Web site, "Babies &
Books from the Beginning," now in its third printing and a Spanish
version, "Los Ninos, Los Libros desde el Principio," now in
its second printing. Area libraries, agencies serving families and individual
families with babies are the intended audience for this publication.
If you are a library in the Mid-Hudson Library System, you may order copies FREE through the online Material Request Form.These may be used to distribute directly from the library or may be given to community agencies for distribution.
If you are an agency ordering from outside the Mid-Hudson Library System:
- A single review copy may be ordered free of charge.
- For multiple copies, there is a per item fee of $2.75 plus shipping.
- To
order, please contact:
Barbara Clapp
Youth Services Department
Mid-Hudson Library System
103 Market Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
(845)471-6060 X23
bclapp@midhudson.org
Maintaining
Web Site
Here
at our Web site you will find a copy of the booklet "Babies &
Books from the Beginning" which contains suggestions for parents
about ways to enrich a child's early language development and about techniques
for reading to babies as well as links to other valued sites. This site
is maintained by the Mid-Hudson Library System.
Project
Initiatives 1997 - 2000
Funding
for this project was supported by Federal Library Services and Technology
Act funds, granted by The New York State Library with the assistance of
the Mid-Hudson Library System.
Hospital
Literacy Packet Distribution
In
coordination with area hospital birthing centers, Babies & Books
provided parents with simple, easy-to-read information about methods
to enhance their baby's intellectual development. Assembled packets (in
both English and Spanish versions) were distributed to parents of newborns
in seven hospitals serving clients in the Mid-Hudson Library System area:
Benedictine Hospital, Columbia Memorial Hospital, Hudson Valley Hospital
Center, Kingston Hospital, Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital
Center, and Vassar Hospital:
·
The board book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown,
·
The State Education Department development calendar, "How
I Grow"
·
"Babies & Books from the Beginning" booklet with
information about stages of literacy development, activities to encourage
language enrichment, and information about offerings at local libraries,
and
·
A bib with the Babies & Books logo.
Library
Services and Community Components
During
the three years of grant funding, twenty-one Mid-Hudson Library System
libraries expanded collections and programs for families with infants
and toddlers; five libraries were designated as Multimedia Family Literacy
Centers; all public
libraries in the System were offered continuing education opportunities
to develop services for this population:
Columbia County
Multimedia Family Literacy
Center: Philmont
Chatham, Claverack, Hillsdale,
Hudson, New
Lebanon, North Chatham,
Dutchess County
Multimedia
Family Literacy Center:
Hyde
Park
Pine
Plains, Poughkeepsie Public Library District:
Adriance Branch, Wappingers
Falls
Greene County
Multimedia Family Literacy
Center:
Greenville
Cairo,
Catskill, Coxsackie,
Putnam County
Multimedia
Family Literacy Center: Carmel
Brewster,
Cold Spring, Kent
Ulster County
Multimedia
Family Literacy Center: Marlboro
Esopus/Port
Ewen, Kingston
The Babies & Books initiative also focused on connecting with community service agencies to foster early literacy training of parents and to encourage parents to use services at local libraries. To further broaden Project exposure the Babies & Books Web site was developed.d