Summer 2014 • Children and Libraries 9O ver a decade ago, the Every Child Ready to Read @ your library initiative designated six early literacy skills as cornerstones of early childhood programming. It wasn't long before librarians began to write about how to incorporate the six skills into storytimes-mainstays of early childhood programming at libraries-giving such formats names like literacy-based storytimes, early literacy storytimes, and early literacy-enhanced storytimes. 1In 2011, the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children released the second edition of Every Child Ready to Read @ your library, which collapsed the six skills into five, wrapping them inside five practices intended to effectively and naturally teach the skills. The five practices, grounded in high-quality oral language development in children, include talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Once again, resources have emerged discussing how to conduct storytimes using the new framework. 2There are distinct similarities and differences between the first and second editions, but both are underpinned by a fundamental assumption that incorporating the skills into early childhood library programming produces two important benefits: children will be helped in early literacy development and parents and caregivers will be educated about it.Our study tested the second assumption, specifically the impact on parents and caregivers when incorporating the first edition skills into storytimes. Some might think that using the six skills instead of the newer five skills/five practices model invalidates the importance of our study, but we don't think so. Our study represents first efforts at establishing a research base for such storytime formats. Apart from books and articles discussing the importance of including skills or practices in storytimes and publications describing how to conduct such storytimes, we found no research exploring whether or not the previously mentioned assumptions are valid. 3 We recommend that future research replicate our study using the second edition model to ensure that a dynamic and growing body of work emerges exploring the key assumptions. Because we did not explore impacts on children's early literacy, future research is also needed in that important area.There are many ways to include early literacy skills in storytimes. We did this through the inclusion of systematic adult asides (a tip on early literacy directed at parents). Lasting thirty to ninety seconds, an adult aside addresses an aspect of early literacy skills and may include a supportive activity. We called our format "enhanced storytimes," and three hypotheses underpinned our study. As a consequence of systematically incorporating adult

The more we librarians can be a part of [our partners’] world, the more our partners help us shape library services to be responsive to the community,” says Mary Hastler, CEO of Harford County (MD) Public Library.More than twelve years after its inception, the Every Child Ready to Read @ your library initiative (ECRR) continues to expand in response to our needs. To help library staff strengthen and deepen our connections with our community partners, the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children have enhanced the content in a new downloadable toolkit (https://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11997) targeting early childhood educators.

Got a great, lighthearted essay? A funny story about children and libraries? Books and babies? Pets and picture books? A not-so-serious look at the world of children' s librarianship? Send your Last Word to Sharon Verbeten at CALeditor@yahoo.com.Our new book, Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide, translates the research findings of Project VIEWS2 1 into easy-to-follow tips and explanations on how to enhance storytimes and contribute to the early learning development of the children who attend. Enjoy this excerpt and celebrate the magic and fun of storytimes.We've seen many kinds of storytimes in big, medium, and small libraries all over Washington State. We've learned from all of these incredible storytime providers, whose patience, inspiration, and dedication show through in the children they serve and the programs they deliver. Each provider had his or her own style, personality, and approach, but they all had the common goal of helping children be better citizens of the world and lifelong learners.We wanted to share . . . the magic that makes up the incredible variety, creativity, and sheer fun of early literacy storytimes for young children.You brought stories to life and led kids in lively dancing, and engaging conversations. Singing at the top of their lungs, kids wriggled and chatted and played. Parents and caregivers guided and learned along with their children in storytime after storytime after storytime. There were so many different and distinct styles and personalities in the storytimes we observed-all with the common goal of helping children and their families be better citizens of the world and become lifelong learners.

“The training I received from PLYMC’s Kindergarten Readiness Workshop didn’t simply help me to understand the number of ways our libraries are striving to support school readiness, it enabled me to effectively communicate with and engage parents and caregivers as to how they can be active participants in this endeavor as well. The workshop group activities created a dialogue that allowed me to internalize what we learned from the assigned readings by coming up with and discussing the different ways learning domains can be implemented in practice.”—Marnie Alvarez, Readers’ Services Librarian, Main LibraryThe growth articulated here is the result of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County’s (PLYMC) Kindergarten Readiness Initiative. Mahoning County (OH) has a long history of supporting early literacy. After reviewing kindergarten readiness assessment results for our county, we realized we could strengthen our value in the community by articulating how we support all school readiness domains and look for ways to increase support to families who most need kindergarten readiness support.

T alking, reading, singing, playing, and writing-the five Every Child Ready to Read, 2nd Edition (ECRR2) practices-are important parts of a child's early literacy development. All of you who provide storytimes are using at least a few of these practices in your storytimes, but do you ever think about HOW you use them?Project VIEWS2 (Valuable Initiatives in Early Learning that Work Successfully) was a four-year study from the University of Washington Information School made possible in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Project VIEWS2 initially demonstrated that storytimes make a difference in children's early literacy skills. It went on to establish that an intentional focus on early literacy skills in storytime planning and delivery increases the early literacy content of storytimes and the observable early literacy behaviors in the children who attend. Therefore when you intentionally insert early literacy skills in an interactive manner into the five practices of ECRR2, you can increase the early literacy impact of your storytime.If you are wondering how to do this, Supercharged Storytimes can help. Supercharged Storytimes is a movement that emerged out of the VIEWS2 research. It uses the VIEWS2 Planning Tool (VPT) and emphasizes three primary methods for planning, delivering, and reflecting on your storytimes to help you be successful in your practice. These methods are intentionality, interactivity, and community.To support the movement, the book Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide (ALA Editions, 2016) is an in-depth exploration of how to use the VPT, how to incorporate the early literacy behaviors from the VPT into the five practices of ECRR2, and how to incorporate self-reflection and peer mentoring into your process. The next sections are drawn from the book, to give you an idea of the book's content and approach, and describe how you can supercharge your own storytimes. What Is a Supercharged Storytime?The Supercharged Storytimes movement utilizes the VPT for planning and reflecting on early literacy storytimes. This tool is made up of two parts: