A brief survey . . .

1. A brief survey . . . • How do you incorporate ALA’s Every Child Ready to Read 6 Early Literacy Skills into storytimes? • Do you have parents in the room during your storytimes? If yes, up to what age? • Are your storytimes broken up by specific age ranges? If yes, what age specific classes do you offer?

2. Katie Cerqua & Victoria Strickland-Cordial Value Added: Transforming Traditional Storytimes to Early Literacy Classes

3. The Catalyst – the Library Strategic Plan How did we get started on a systems approach to library services? • In 2008 Virginia Beach Public Library created and filled 3 positions: • Public Services Manager • Youth and Family Services Manager • Community Relations and Development Coordinator (Marketing)

4. Here’s where we were in 2008 We had: • 9 branches providing storytimes • 4 youth librarians on staff • Each reported to a separate manager • 5 libraries had no access to a youth librarian • all 4 youth librarians did completely different jobs.

5. More “island think”. . . • no standardized registration procedure • marketing was done at the branch level • programming was not curriculum based • crafts took up a lot of time and had little strategic focus (okay, not everywhere, but mostly . . .) • Few, if any, evaluations of storytimes

6. More challenges . . . • Each library location offered different storytimes, • with different: • age breakdowns • program lengths • series lengths • some had different storytellers each week • to be honest, the quality varied widely across the system.

7. A Systemic Approach to Storytime Classes • observed programming • held staff meetings • Led brainstorming sessions Then I wrote and presented a report stating where we were . . . and where we needed to go.

8. First change – standard structure across the system. Series storytime schedule – all 9 libraries follow the same schedule • Spring – 8 week series • Summer – 6 week series • Fall – 10 week series • Winter – 8 week series Enrollment (Registration) • Children are enrolled for a full series. • The storytimes within that series build on themselves. • Enrollment helps build parental buy in and a sense of community within the class. Evaluation • Every class has written evaluations by parents. • And yes, we call them storytime classes!

9. Making the Change • #1- Team building (youth librarians were pulled into one office) • #2 – Research • #3- Develop the curriculum • #4 – Trained staff

10. Tying it all Together… • We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted, but didn’t really have a clear way to bring it together • Then we found Saroj who gave us our structure

11. Finally, after a year, we gave birth. . . to the Storytime Manuals!

12. Planning an Early Literacy Class: What Does it Look Like?

13. Fun with a purpose • Focus is on putting the six pre-literacy skills into place so that children enter K ready to learn to read • Don’t teach reading – but provide parents the tools to help build the 6 critical skills • Use new books, materials • Make it fun!

14. Our Storytime Classes: • Small age range - based on developmental milestones • Baby Rhyme Time (Age 6-12 months) • Onesies Rhyme Time (Age 12-24 months) • Just 2s (Age 2) • 3s Please (Age 3) • On My Own (Age 4-5)

15. Our biggest change - • Parent Involvement: • Based on research and best practices we now keep parents in the room until the age of 3.

16. What we include. . . besides the parents • **Early literacy callouts for parents** • Baby sign language • Nursery rhymes, fingerplays & action rhmes • Music • Activities for fine and large motor skills • One-on-one book sharing with parent • Read aloud book sharing • Transition songs • ABC song • Manipulatives (bubbles, scarves, balls, shakers, puppets, etc.) • “Sell” the collection • Homework handouts

17. What We Don’t Include . . . • Themes • Crafts • Food or Snacks • Poor Book Handling Skills • Family Storytimes (okay, we do offer some . . .)

18. Training Staff • Training sessions for all storytime providers • All staff training so that everyone in the library was familiar with the early literacy skills • Trainings were broken down by program age (Onesies, Just 2s, etc.) • Training is regular and ongoing

19. Training: formal, informal and ongoing We present biannual training: • to new storytime providers • to let staff know about updates in best practices Readers advisory training: • on new picture books • emphasis on how to tie the book to an early literacy skill There’s also regular observations of storytimes . . .

20. We even adapted ECRR storytimes to include American Sign Language users

21. Branding – a critical element for success The marketing department helped us develop professional looking storytime templates. These include: • program flyers • first day orientations • homework handouts • evaluations • certificates

22. We went from this TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT Name that truck… Letter of the Day T

23. To this

24. Evaluations

25. First Day Orientation Certificate Sarah

26. Strategically Focused Outreach Mobile Services Then: • bookmobile’s circulation -average cost of $30 a book! • Visited neighborhoods, & a few preschools Now: • Service limited to 0-5 year olds • Only visits QRIS rated preschools We have a dedicated Outreach Librarian!

27. Overcoming Obstacles • Staff reluctance to change • Moving to a system wide programming approach • Getting the parents on board

28. The Next Step: Early Literacy Centers South Rosemont Youth Library Oceanfront Library

29. Sustainablilty • Continuous evaluation of service • Watch what the parent evaluations are telling us • YFS Staff now fully integrated into the branches • ECRR2 - Sing, Talk, Read, Write & Play • ALA best practices • Additional staff added to dept - from 4 to 8 youth librarians - dreams do come true! • Parents realize the value of reading readiness

30. Measuring Outcomes • Demand - our storytimes went from 29 to 58 a week • Even with the added classes we have overflowing interest lists • Parental Feedback “Repetition has helped him & he has developed more verbal skills.” “Gets children ready for school & reading.” “Best money ever spent in taxes!” “My daughter sings Ms. Ally's songs and talks bout "library preschool" more than her regular preschool (which is a good preschool).” “Terrific program. I have seen the results from this program in my child's progress (FYI... I would pay for this program.). Ms. Elena has been so wonderful. Thank you so much.” “I'm an early childhood professor, so I feel like I'm really critical of these types of programs. I think Katie does a fabulous job teaching the kids & parents.”

31. Lessons Learned • It’s always “a work in progress” • Can’t impose change – it has to grow organically – our manuals only work because we “grew” them. • Staff needs feedback • Project like this needs strong leadership, tough skin and commitment to the vision. . . there will be pushback • It will get better. • Chocolate is necessary for creativity • Take pictures. Constantly.

32. Virginia Beach Public Library Youth and Family Services Department Victoria Strickland-Cordial – Manager 757-385-0193 Vcordial@vbgov.com Katie Cerqua Youth & Teen Services Librarian 757-385-0147 Kcerqua@vbgov.com