About the MHLS Early Literacy Cohort

MHLS member library staff who work with families with young children age birth-5 who are interested in establishing a new community partnership or strengthening an existing partnership to support your library’s capacity to provide early literacy services in your community are invited to participate in the 2024 MHLS Early Literacy Cohort Program.

Establishing partnerships demonstrates the library’s commitment to participating in community-wide goals, strengthens community connections, amplifies shared resources, and helps connect libraries to members of the community who may not be using the library.

This program is designed to help your library identify an early literacy partner in your community and create and implement an outreach plan with your partner organization. Sessions cover training on best practices as well as offer member library peer support. This program consists of four 90-minute interactive online sessions taking place in April, May, June, and October as well as individual work between sessions to establish a partnership and implement programming.

APPPLICATION PERIOD IS CLOSED. If you are interested in participating in this dynamic peer supported program, please fill out this brief form by March 15^th. Questions can be directed to MHLS Outreach & EDI Specialist, Kerstin Cruger.

Topics covered will include:

• Community Asset Analysis
  • Identifying Community Partners
• Strategies for Partnerships and Outreach
• Creating Action Plans with Partners

Sessions

This program consists of four 90-minute interactive online sessions taking place in April, May, June, and October as well as individual work between sessions to establish a partnership and implement programming.

Session 1
April 22 | 2:00 pm: Community Asset Analysis –Identifying Community Partners

• Pre-work
  • Overwhelmed By: Researching Your Community (ALSC Blog)
  • Community Asset Mapping for the Curious (CT State Library Division of Library Development)
• Presentation Slides
• Resources
  • Community Asset Mapping – Resources 2024
  • What is Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), Forward Wayne County, IN
  • The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD), DePaul University, IL
  • The Council on Children and Families (NYS)

Session 2
May 15 | 2:00 pm: Strategies for Partnerships/Outreach 

• Pre-work
  • 3 Ways to Build Partnerships at Your Small Library, Programming Librarian (ALA)
  • Working with Community Partners (California Library Association) – Though centered around the Summer Reading Program the fundamental framework applies to all community partnerships.
  • Let’s Talk about Library Partnerships (National PTA) – This brief video presents an outside organization’s perspective on the importance of creating partnerships with public libraries.
  • Building Mutually Beneficial Partnerships: 11 Tips For Nonprofits (Forbes)
• Presentation
  • Outreach Planning Template
  • Sample Outreach Plan
• Resources
  • The Necessity of Collaboration, American Libraries Magazine
  • Effective Community Outreach Strategies, El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center
  • Turning Outward, The Harwood Institute
  • Community Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: A Guide for Community-Based Organizations, Urban Institute
  • During the COVID-19 Crisis, Staying Connected to Communities Is More Critical than Ever. Here’s How to Do It Right, Fuse Corps

Session 3
June 12 | 2:00 pm: Creating Action Plans with Partners     

• Pre-work
• Presentation
• Resources

Session 4
October 8 | 2:00 pm: Follow Up

• Pre-work:
• Presentation
• Resources

Practitioner Resources

Early Childhood Programs

• Every Child Ready to Read @Your Library (PLA and ALSC)
• Supercharged Storytimes for All (WebJunction)
• Ready to Read at New York Libraries (NYSL)
• Toolkit: Library Services to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers (ALSC) – This is not exclusively for birth to 5 but there are many great resources for reaching out to and working with families with children of all ages.
• Virtual Storytime Services Guide (ALSC)
• Professional Tools for Librarians Serving Youth – Early Literacy (ALSC)
• Get Ready to Read – One of the National Center for Learning Disabilities’ family of websites
• Higher Order Thinking (H.O.T) – Queens Public Library

• Less Work, More Fun: A System to Super-Charge Your Storytime Planning and Creativity (NYSL)
• Summer Reading Resources for Younger Readers with Print Disabilities (NYSL)
• StoryWalks® for the Win-Win-Win: Programming, Partnerships, Pandemic-Friendly (NYSL)
• Trauma and Young Children: What Every Early Educator Needs to Know (Early Childhood Webinars)

• Every Child Ready to Read, Second Edition Kit from ALSC & PLA
• Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide, Kathleen Campana, J. Elizabeth Mills and Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting
• Engaging Babies in the Library: Putting Theory into Practice, Debra J. Knoll
• The Power of Play: Designing Early Learning Spaces, Dorothy Stoltz, Marisa Conner, and James Bradberry
• Nonfiction in Motion: Connecting Preschoolers with Nonfiction Books through Movement, Julie Dietzel-Glair
• Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See, Megan Dowd Lambert
• The Essential Lapsit Guide: A Multimedia How-To-Do-It Manual and Programming Guide for Stimulating Literacy Development from 12 to 24 Months, Linda L. Ernst
• Healthy Young Children: A Manual for Programs, Fifth Edition, Susan S. Aronson
• So Much More than the ABCs: The Early Phases of Reading and Writing, Judith A. Schickedanz and Molly F. Collins
• From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers’ Play to Children’s Learning, Marcia L. Nell , Walter F. Drew and Deborah E. Bush
• Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change, Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan and John Nimmo
• The Early Years Matter: Education, Care and the Well-Being of Children, Birth to 8, Heather Biggar Tomlinson and Marilou Hyson
• The New Early Childhood Professional: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Goliath, Brenda Gadson, Kathryn L. Amel and Valora Washington
• Serious Fun: How Guided Play Extends Children’s Learning, Marie L. Masterson and Holly Bohart
• Spotlight on Young Children: Equity and Diversity, Cristina Gillanders and Rossella Procopio
• This Is Play: Environments and Interactions that Engage Infants and Toddlers, Aarti Subramaniam, Janet Thompson and Julia Luckenbill
• Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Second Edition, Louise Derman-Sparks, Julie Olsen Edwards and Catherine M. Goins
• Each and Every Child: Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens, Alissa Mwenelupembe and Susan Friedman
• Trauma and Young Children: Teaching Strategies to Support and Empower, Elizabeth C. Winter, Laura Jean Colker and Sarah Erdman
• Infants and Toddlers at Play: Choosing the Right Stuff for Learning and Development, Dylan Brody and Mary Benson McMullen
• Literacy Learning for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: Key Practices for Educators, Mariana Souto-Manning, Nell K. Duke, Sonia Q. Cabell and Tanya S. Wright
• Preschoolers at Play: Choosing the Right Stuff for Learning and Development, Lisa Mufson Bresson and Megan King