Welcome to this
PLA-sponsored
program!
ECRR – Implementation Tips!
Every Child Ready to Read
@ Los Angeles Public Library
Alicia Rodriguez, Children’s
Librarian
Cypress Park Branch, LAPL
The Los Angeles Public Library
• 72 branches and a
Central Library.
• Each branch has a
Children’s Librarian.
• No Early Childhood
specialists or Outreach
Librarians.
Children’s Librarians
• Received a 2-hour training on the ECRR 2
workshop in summer 2011.
• Were expected to present at least 3 workshops in
the community between September 2011 and
June 2012.
Our ECRR 2 Workshops
• Librarians use a
laptop or tablet and
projector to show
ECRR 2 PowerPoint
• They give out
brochures, booklists
and (when available)
books to parents
Placards
• If equipment isn’t
available, each
branch has a set of
laminated 11” x 17”
placards
• Slides are on one
side, talking points
are on the other
Evaluation Project
• 2 investigators – Dr. Cindy Mediavilla and
Dr. Natalie Cole
• 6 branches – 3 in the Central Southern Area
and 3 in the Northeast Area
• 12 workshops – a basic and a follow-up
• Between September 2011 and March 2012
Purpose of Evaluation
• Are workshops effective? Do parents:
– Gain new knowledge/understanding of early literacy
techniques to use with children?
– Read (talk, sing, play, write) more with children at
home after attending workshop?
– Visit library more after attending workshop?
• How can workshops be improved?
– Implementation tips
Methodology
At first workshop:
• Pre- and post-workshop question
“What can we do to help kids get ready
to read?”
• Post-workshop survey
• Observation of parent reaction during
workshop
Methodology (cont.)
At follow-up workshop:
• “How have you been helping your children
get ready to read?”
• “Have you visited the library since the last
workshop? More than usual?”
• Surveys
• Observation
Input from Children’s Librarians
• How have the workshops been going?
• What challenges have you encountered?
• What response have you gotten from
community members?
• What changes would you recommend be
made to the workshops and/or workshop
process?
Findings
• 85% of parents strongly agreed that “I
learned that my children need help getting
ready to read.”
• 84% of parents strongly agreed that “I
learned ways to help my children develop
early literacy skills so they are ready to
learn in school.”
Findings (cont.)
• After first and second workshop, parents
demonstrated a greater knowledge of early
literacy techniques
• Parents at the second workshop who had
attended the first workshop indicated that
they had been reading, playing, singing, and
talking with their children
• Most parents visited the library at least once
between the first and second workshop
Other Observations
• Parents responded well to the workshops;
they enjoyed the slides (whether via
PowerPoint or placards) and the videos
• They particularly enjoyed any chance to
participate and interact, such as…
The decoding exercise…
Reading is learning the code.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
<
/
*
#
>
+ \
**
[
= )
]
~
:
[
]]
{
++
} //
*<:
^
!
[[
((
>> \\
}><#.
|
Singing and doing finger rhymes…
Singing:
Singing helps your child
get ready to read.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
And crafts, activities, and experiments parents
can do with their children!
Matching games!
Color-changing milk!
Sock puppets!
Drawbacks of Report
• Very small-scale – 6 branches out of 72, and
only 12 workshops
• Hard to get the same parents to come back
to second workshop, so longitudinal aspect
was not as successful as hoped
What Next?
• Continue using ECRR 2 workshop model –
it works!
• Use the Spanish version when it becomes
available
• More training for children’s librarians to
incorporate interactive elements
• Create task force to figure out how to best
present workshops across our diverse city
For more information – Eva Mitnick, Youth Services
Coordinator – emitnick@lapl.org
Find the full evaluation report at
everychildreadytoread.ning.com