By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
The Campbell County Library has several fun programs for children and adults alike.
One of the programs that can begin as soon as a child is born is the 1000 books before Kindergarten program, and it is free to join. This program is not a new program, but it is still very relevant for teaching the birth to five age group.
“You can visit any branch, and pick up a reading log, and a passport, or they can download the Beanstack app, and then start the reading,” said Stacey Kaufman, Early Literacy Outreach Librarian. “You can also download and print the passport at home. Every book counts. If a child wants to read the same book again and again that still counts.”
Kaufman said the parents can read to the child, even as an infant, and then fill in a circle on the reading log, or enter the information on the app.
She said even if parents bring their child to a program at the library, and the workers are reading books to the children, the parents can count those books in their 1000 book count.
There will be an event on May 16, which is an early literacy play date from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. It will be held at the Newport branch, and there will be games, open play spaces and literacy activities. This program tries to connect caregivers and preschoolers to the community partners and resources for early learning.
Librarians will be reading, singing, and playing with the children the entire time, and kids can learn about letters while they develop fine motor skills playing with play-doh letters. They can also take home one of the ‘take and make’ flash card activities.
“You will receive a prize for every 100 books you read,” said Kaufman. “Then when you have completed the program and reach 1000 books the child gets a certificate of awesomeness along with a prize.”
She acknowledged that people might think that 1000 books is a daunting challenge, but she said if a parent reads one book a night, that is 365 books in a year, and that adds up to 1,095 books in three years. So it is absolutely doable in the five years between birth and kindergarten.
The library also has book care packages that people can request. They just need to submit a request with the child’s favorite themes and topics, and then the library personnel will pull up to 10 books and audio materials that the parents can check out. It will take about seven days to fill the request.
A related program is called play and read bags, where the child gets a play and read bag that includes a book, a related toy or activity and a sheet with suggested activities. There are dozens of the play and read bags, and they are in the children’s area of each branch. Parents can place a hold online or choose one when they visit a branch.
The library offers storytimes several times a week for infants through preschoolers, and those books count on their quest for 1000 books.
Families can also sign up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, where parents sign up their children between birth and kindergarten, at any branch of the library, and they will receive a new book every month.
The books are chosen for the Imagination Library by a committee of parents, teachers, child development specialists, librarians, publishers and others specializing in early childhood literacy. Parton started this program because she knew her dad couldn’t read, and this successful program was in his honor.
“This program, of 1000 books before Kindergarten, was started here about ten years ago,” Kaufman stated. “But it is a program that is all over the country. Now that we know that children absorb being read to as early as newborn, it is very important to expose them to reading, and doing it on their parents’ laps is very important too. Reading is one of the most powerful ways to boost your child’s brain power. The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless.”