Books may be losing their prominence in the public library system, but that doesn’t mean that reading should. The public library is the perfect place for community education activists to start at risk kids early in reading programs. Children who come from broken homes, very poor homes, communities full of violence and drug abuse, and transient homes are at great risk of falling behind in their reading skills. In order for an early childhood reading program to succeed, it is going to have to take on some other social necessities too.
Offer a free meal with your reading program. Breakfast might be the best one to offer because working parents can drop their kids off on the way to work. Local schools might participate by busing the children in the morning. Volunteers and teachers can then spend the morning reading to the children and helping them participate in activities that will get them prepared for kindergarten. They will also be giving the children something else that is very necessary for learning success. Attention.
If morning and breakfast don’t work, try a “free baby sitting” service one night a week that is centered around reading activities. Offer to take your program to women’s shelters or if the space is available, to a public clinic or WIC office. By combining social services with teaching and early childhood reading programs you’ll be doing a service to the parents who might not be able to get their child to the program otherwise. The profit, via successful students and lower drop out rates, will far outweigh the immediate cost of implementing a reading program like this.