Harris County Public Library won the Texas Library Association’s Libraries Change Communities Award, for their innovative Growing Readers project.
This project is a county-wide initiative designed to prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school. The Growing Readers project is a comprehensive program that gives parents and caregivers the tools, know-how, and resources to make everyday activities into fun, enriching learning experiences for families with young children.
Growing Readers was designed by HCPL staff experts in early literacy and childhood development with the goal of increasing school-readiness for children across the county, with the specific hope of serving families with limited access to educational resources. The five Early Literacy practices (Talk, Read, Sing, Write, Play) of enhancing learning are featured in the program. These practices are emphasized in story times and programs and are the focal points of staff-created resources.
HCPL Director Edward Melton said, “We want every child in Harris County to be school-ready.” According to the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation report “Houston’s Literacy Crisis: A Blueprint for Community Action,” 60 percent of Houston-area children enter kindergarten each year lacking requisite reading skills. By helping parents with the skills and resources needed to get their child kindergarten-ready with the Growing Readers program, HCPL is helping build the children’s capacity for ongoing literacy success.
For more information, contact: Wendy Woodland, Director of Communications and Advocacy for TLA, at wendyw@txla.org.
