Southern Peaks Public Library
Resources for Children
Storybox Special arrives at home child cares
ALAMOSA – The train east of the library may not be going anywhere—it is permanently
displayed in the park after all—but the train coming out of the library is officially
on its way around Alamosa as of Feb. 27.
Deemed the Storybox Special, this train is bound for success, according to its
conductor, Southern Peaks children’s librarian Babette Reeves. Its five cars
are actually boxes filled with about 20 books each that home child care providers
can check-out monthly.
Reeves initiated the program because she was looking to fill a gap she saw in
early literacy programs in rural communities like Alamosa. “Family day cares
really do not have the transportation or the financial means to get their kids
to the library like a lot of the preschools and traditional day cares can,”
she said. “These kids need books that can be part of their day, either to look
at and play with on their own or to read with adults.”
The books cover early literacy skills and developmental tasks for preschoolers,
like having a new baby in the family or potty training. Boxes include bilingual
books as well as a couple of resource books for the teachers.
To participate, providers must attend a workshop where they are taught the six
essential early literacy skills: print motivation, vocabulary, print awareness,
narrative skills, phonological awareness and letter knowledge. The first workshop
was held in January and Reeves said that as word gets out about the program,
more workshops will be scheduled.
Reeves hand delivered the first set of books to three home child cares on Friday.
“A month later I will go back and pick up the boxes, check them in, rotate them,
and take them back out again,” she explained. “Each home child care will get
a new box of books for kids to spend time with each month.”
Home child care provider Cindy Goldsworthy is glad the Storybox Special has
a scheduled stop at her house because it is difficult to bring five or more
infants and preschoolers to the library herself. “We always love reading, and
getting new material each month is going to be so exciting,” she said.
Reeves emphasized that studies continue to prove reading to and with preschoolers
increases their chances of graduating from high school. With a 66-percent graduation
rate at Alamosa High School as reported by the Colorado Department of Education
in 2007, Reeves said the Storybox Special is especially important.
“I told those who showed up for the workshop that ten or twelve years from now
when the graduation rate goes up, you’re going to tell yourself, and I’m going
to remind you, that it is because of what you did in your day cares and your
preschools and your homes with those kids when they were babies and until they
went to kindergarten that made a difference,” she said.
To learn more about the Storybox Special, call Babette Reeves at 719-589-6592.
Article written by Lisa Moore
