Literacy without barriers: building a community of readers

About

This program worked on removing the barriers to literacy for members of the Kingston preschool community and their families.

Through this project, Kingston District Council worked with Rural Care, local playgroups, Baby Bounce families and reception to year two school families to build their confidence in approaching reading, singing and learning through play.

The project developed and delivered book packs to encourage families to learn together at home.

The book packs contained:

• a picture book
• a song or rhyme with lyrics
• learning activities before or after the story
• identified learning outcomes of the book, with ideas of how to enhance the story
• recommendations for similar books from the library and an information sheet about the value of reading and playing in the early years.

Background

This project responded to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data, that showed no significant language and cognitive skills development change in the Kingston Southeast and Robe areas.

The project worked to engage vulnerable families who had not yet connected with local preschool programs or who faced barriers to reading.

Outcomes

This project involved 200 people, including 70 children aged 0-5. Efforts were made to reach families facing disadvantage, and it is estimated that the project reached at least 30 people in this group.

The project received positive feedback from the families who received the book pack. Targeted families responded positively to the support received. Given the success of this project, the library will continue to deliver this project and update the book packs on a relevant basis.

Networking/Ongoing Relationships

A direct consequence of this project is that Kingston Library has seen an increase in families with young children borrowing and using their facilities. The library will continue to work with their local community, the school community library and the council to ensure this trend continues.

The outcomes of this project have also been shared with the public libraries and child and youth services as evidence of the positive impact we can make through public libraries.

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