The mission of the Afton Free Library is to help meet the community’s educational, recreational and lifelong learning needs. The ideas shared over the course of this grant project will assist the library with our goal of helping children in our community become successful readers and lifelong learners. (Submitted photos)

AFTON – Recently, the Afton Free Library was awarded a Libraries Transforming Communities grant through the American Library Association.

The focus of this grant was to engage the community in a conversation discussing the importance and impact of the development of early literacy skills in children under six years old.

Reading research shows that learning to read begins in infancy. Children who are read one book a day will hear about 300,000 more words by age five than those children who are not read to regularly. Early reading experiences and literacy-rich environments are the best ways to support the development of pre-reading and cognitive skills that ensure children are prepared for success in school and in life.

Over the past several months, the Afton Free Library has been working on this project by hosting two community conversations open to the public. Also, conversations were conducted with children and educators. We are very thankful to everyone who participated and helped by sharing their thoughts, ideas, experiences and time. During the public conversations we explored the six skills that help a child get ready to read. These skills are: print motivation, phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, print awareness, and letter knowledge. We also shared some of the best ways to develop these skills which include singing, playing, writing, reading and talking.

The grant funds have also been used to create a StoryWalk outside our library, encouraging fun with literacy over the summer. We are planning to install a new story in the future. We are developing Ready-to-Read kits with books and activity ideas for parents to borrow so they can have their own storytimes at home with their child. We were so excited to have a special program with Suzanne Bloom where kids of all ages enjoyed listening to her read several of her books, talk about her wonderful illustrations, share information about her process of writing and drawing, and tips on choosing books to read with children.

During the community conversations parents expressed the importance of family reading to children under five years old and the importance of continuing this practice even after they start school. An idea for an outreach program for new moms is being developed as a direct result of our community conversation. We now have the book The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise & Sara Buffington for library patrons to borrow as this was recommended during a conversation as a great tool for parents.

Following the community conversations, ideas were presented to and approved by our library Board of Trustees. We look forward to implementing them over time.

-Hire an Early Literacy Specialist to visit the library once or twice a year to talk about speech development, learning disabilities, and to have a Q & A session for parents.

-Hire an educator to give a program at the library about preparing your child for kindergarten.

-Provide an area for interactive reading and writing.

-Develop a program where kids read to kids and play games.

-Post signs around the library with letters, simple words and pictures.

-Have book talks for children.

The mission of the Afton Free Library is to help meet the community’s educational, recreational and lifelong learning needs. The ideas shared over the course of this grant project will assist the library with our goal of helping children in our community become successful readers and lifelong learners.

We greatly welcome you to contact the Afton Free Library with any questions and look forward to your individual input. We are located at 105 Main Street in Afton and are open Monday and Tuesday 12-5, Thursday 12-7, Friday 9-5 and Saturday 9-1. You can also visit us on Facebook or at http://libraries.4cls.org/afton/.

– From the Afton Free Library