State Library Awards Year 2001 Parent and Child Library Services Grants
September 2001
New York State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries Janet M. Welch announced that the State Library's Division of Library Development has awarded public libraries and branches in communities across New York State $300,000 in Parent and Child Library Services Grants from the New York State Library.
Welch commented, "These low-cost, high-impact programs focus on strengthening library services to families and help parents to be partners in their children's education. They help to create a foundation of high quality library services for the "New Century Libraries" bill currently before the Legislature."
This year's Parent and Child Library Services Grants were awarded to a variety of programs. They include early literacy and reading programs for infants, toddlers, and hospitalized youngsters; workshops involving parents and children in exploring community history, studying the causes of and alternatives to violence; and after-school programs exploring scientific inquiry, and workshops involving parents in their children's use of the Internet.
Libraries will work in partnerships that include a rich variety of community groups such as medical service providers, local school districts, child care providers, law enforcement agencies, and social service programs such as Head Start and WIC.
The 2001 Parent and Child Library Services Grants began July 1 and run through June 30, 2002. Library Development staff of the New York State Library and outside reviewers selected 15 programs which are made available through 23 public libraries, 8 neighborhood branches, and 4 public library systems and will receive a total of $300,000.
The Parent and Child Library Services Grant program was funded by the Governor and Legislature for the first time in 1993. The grants are awarded to libraries that provide innovative programs to help children do well in school, use the public library as an integral part of learning throughout the school years and involve parents in their children's education from an early age. Programs may also use museums, public television, historical societies, environmental centers, libraries and other cultural resources.
Anne Simon, the Division of Library Development's program officer for parent and child library services said, "Public libraries reach a very broad community audience. Their role in preschool and school-age learning provides critical support to the work of our schools. The grants we awarded this year enable the selected libraries and systems to initiate effective and innovative programs that they previously lacked the resources to carry out."
The New York State Library's Division of Library Development provides leadership and support to some 7,000 libraries and library systems throughout the state. The Division strives to encourage and facilitate cooperation and sharing of resources so that all New Yorkers will have access to quality library services. The Parent and Child Library Services Grants are awarded and administered by the New York State Library's Division of Library Development.
The New York State Library is part of the New York State Education Department and is located in the Cultural Education Center of the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany, New York.
A list of public libraries throughout the State that received Parent and Child Library Services Grants follows:
Brooklyn Public Library (Kings County) $50,000 - Hospital Storytelling: A Project of The Child's Place for Children with Special Needs (operating in six branches of the Brooklyn Public Library). Children who are in the hospital, attending clinics or living in health-related group homes will benefit from Brooklyn Public Library's storytelling visits. 4,000 children and their parents or caregivers at ten Brooklyn hospitals, three group homes for children with disabilities, and six branch libraries will take part in storytelling sessions. Through a partnership with the Reading Is Fundamental program, free books and suggested reading lists will be given to kids and parents who participate. Parents and caregivers will be encouraged to continue the reading and storytelling with their children at home and supportive materials and workshops will be available to help with this goal.
Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery (Montgomery County) $8,115 - Presenting the Past: Children and Parents Experiencing History Together. Stories of families and events in the Canajoharie area will come alive for parents and kids in this joint library/museum program. Oral histories and local stories will be gathered by families working with a folklore specialist and will be performed for local audiences. Study kits and creative-writing activities will provide support and focus for the exhibits and programs to be developed.
Crandall Public Library (Warren County), Caldwell-Lake George Library (Warren County), Bancroft Public Library (Washington County), Schuylerville Public Library (Saratoga County) $21,330 - Backyards: Exploring Our Communities. Children and young adults (ages 10-18) and their parents are the focus of this program to help families learn more about their neighbors and their hometown communities. Photography and sound recording will be used by participating families to document and explore local culture and share results within their communities. Based in part on similar projects conducted by National Public Radio and the Western Folklife Center, the goal is to establish these local libraries as community centers for older youth and their parents.
Gowanda Free Library (Cattaraugus) $7,707 - United We'll Stand For No More Violence. Teaching youngsters how to recognize the causes and stop the reactions which cause violence in their schools and community is the focus of this project in a rural, western New York village. The Gowanda Free Library will cooperate with the local school, police department, New York State troopers, and local government to bring parents and teens together to work toward a common goal. Library materials, videos, book discussion groups and lectures on the impact of violence and alternative ways to deal with problems will be available to the community as a result of this grant.
Henry Waldinger Memorial Library (Nassau) $6,650 - Parents as Internet Partners: Helping Parents Help Their Children. The Library will help parents learn to use the Internet through training sessions, instructional materials, books and videos. Many children are more adept at surfing the web than their parents are. The goal of this project is to bridge the gap between parents and their children so parents can become more active partners in their youngster's Internet use. The Library will build an instructional web site for parents that will be available to families statewide.
James Prendergast Library Association (Chautauqua County) $18,120 - PARENT II: Parents are Reading Educators, Nurturing Teachers 2. Children under 7 and those parents who lack literacy skills will benefit from this project. The Library will offer pre-literacy activities in English and Spanish through agencies such as Head Start, local schools, Teen Mothers programs and others. The second year of this project will bring more families into the program through home visits, family nights and group meetings. Another new feature will be reading packets for parents of youngsters with special needs.
Lee-Whedon Memorial Library (Orleans) $7,605 - SHARE: Students Having Adults Read Everyday. Children in first and second grades in need of reading skill improvement will be matched with trained library volunteer mentors using games, books, puzzles, computer programs, puppets and activity sheets to develop reading enjoyment and teach skills. Take-home kits to help reinforce skills by providing these children with fun family activities (e.g., books, puzzles, puppets, games, etc.). Building on last year's successes, new features will include increasing the frequency and scope of programs to help parents learn how to share books with their youngsters and provide opportunities for discussion of parenting issues.
New Rochelle Public Library, Mount Vernon Public Library, Ossining Public Library, Port Chester Public Library, White Plains Public Library (Westchester) $34,981 - Extending the Parent-Child Workshop: Serving New Populations. Libraries in five Westchester County communities will partner with a family service agency to reach families in need of early childhood development programming and materials. Programs for toddlers and their parents will demonstrate developmentally appropriate toys and activities and provide time with early childhood professionals in areas such as nutrition, speech and child development. Each library will develop a family-centered resource collection. A major focus will be reaching out to the population most in need of these programs.
New Woodstock Free Library, Cazenovia Public Library, Mid-York Library System (Madison) $10,000 - Building a Community of Readers with E-Books. E-Books will be used as an incentive to get reluctant readers and their parents excited about reading. Through partnerships with the Cazenovia Public Library, Mid-York Library System and the Cazenovia School District Middle School, parents and their children will be trained together in the use of E-Books. In addition, the two libraries will develop collections of E-Books for use by participants and later for the community and host parent/child book discussion groups.
Patchogue-Medford Library (Suffolk) $31,218 - Get Ready, Start Ahead. Children, many from homes where only Spanish is spoken, will benefit from the library's deposit collections in their local Head Start and Early Head Start preschools. Library storytime programs will also be provided onsite to the Head Start programs. Circulating literacy kits, activities and parenting materials (in Spanish and English) will assist parents in their role of their child's first teacher.
Patterson Library (Chautauqua) $9,824 - Growing Minds. Teen mothers will be shown how to promote their children's development and pre-reading skills through the library, local hospital, area family physicians, and the WIC (Women, Infants, Children) Program. Library programming at the Hospital and WIC site will also focus on the information needs of expectant parents to support a healthy pregnancy.
Queens Borough Public Library (Queens) $39,400 - Prescription for Success. Working with the Queens Health Network (QHN), the library will provide "Welcome Baby" kits for new mothers that include information on the library, pre-literacy activities for young children, board books, and other reading enticements. Programs will be offered to these mothers while they are inpatients at QHN hospitals. The programs on the value of reading with youngsters will be videotaped and stored to show to future new parents. Hospital volunteers will be trained to do storytimes for children and parents and to offer literacy-based programming for staff.
The New York Public Library (Bronx, New York, Richmond) $45,000 - After-School PLUS at the New York Public Library. After School PLUS is a training program for Children's and Youth Services Librarians. The library will partner with Educational Equity Concepts to teach staff to conduct hands-on science activities with 6-12 year-old children that encourage all kids to participate in science inquiry and discovery. Librarians will also learn how to involve parents in reinforcing what was learned, including a brochure to help parents create science learning opportunities in the home. Science collections to support both school and home need for science information will be added.
Troy Public Library - Lansingburgh Branch, Sycaway Branch; Garfield Library of Brunswick; North Greenbush Public Library; Stephentown Memorial Library (Rensselaer) $4,000 - You Can't Judge a Book by its Movie. Parents and their 4th-7th graders will participate in library book discussions and programs involving music, art, movies, local history and architecture at two branches of the Troy Public Library and three partner public libraries. Building on community interest created by the production, in Troy, of a Dreamworks movie based on the novel The Time Machine, the library's collection and programming will highlight aspects of the city that are of historic and artistic interest.
White Plains Public Library (Westchester) $6,050 - Read, Baby, Read! Bilingual library programs for parents and their new baby will get families involved in using the library at the very start. With partners that include: YWCA, Early Learning Center and White Plains Hospital, the library will offer give-away books, reading suggestions for parents and children, and reading to your baby/young child demonstrations and practice sessions. Reading events such as a family celebration.