Reading Ready Initiative

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

The Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Reading Ready Initiative was launched in 2009 in response to a recognized countywide need for free, safe, accessible early literacy education. What makes this program unique is that it is targeted to adults; the goal being to train parents and caregivers of at-risk children, ages 0-5, to repeat specific learned practices in the home that develop the important literacy skills children need before entering school and learning to read. The trainings were created by seasoned children’s librarians, under the guidance of an early childhood literacy consultant who coached library personnel on how to implement a standardized program geared to developing a literacy awakening in children using six basic literacy skills broken down by age groupings. During Reading Ready programs, staff share techniques and demonstrate activities with the adults that illustrate how acquiring these skills are beneficial to a child’s future and how easy it is for the parent/caregiver to implement these techniques in the home. Due to the success of the program, the library’s Reading Ready Early Literacy Centers, equipped with specialized play-to-learn interactive tools, have grown from one to five and now to ten libraries.