Both public and school libraries are community centers at heart, with the same goal: to provide a safe, welcoming environment for all patrons and access to information in a variety of formats. When public and school librarians and library workers engage in collaboration, community members reap the benefits. This toolkit includes context and suggestions for creating partnerships of all sizes.
Public and school libraries have a long history of supporting children’s emerging literacy. Libraries also have the resources to support adult and family literacy efforts, which have a lasting impact on children. The American Library Association (ALA) partnered with Reading Rockts to produce this free toolkit.
This study reveals that increasing access to diverse books in the classroom environment increases the amount of time that children spend reading, and positively impacts students’ reading scores. It also reveals that while educators almost uniformly believe that a diverse classroom library is important, most classroom libraries fall far short of representing or reflecting the current diverse student population. Additional research is needed to further understand the impact of diverse books.
This summary of research and expert opinion highlights the importance of reading volume (how much reading), access and exposure to print materials and books, reader choice and variety, and reading aloud to developing young readers.
