1000 Books Before K: Nat’l Program is a hit on Long Island
1000 Books Before K: Nat’l Program is a hit on Long Island
Public libraries are partners In early literacy efforts
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It’s a simple concept: the more young children are read to by parents and caregivers, the better their language development and literacy skills. This is the fundamental idea behind 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, a movement spearheaded by a national nonprofit (www.1000booksbeforekindergarten.org) and offered her on Long Island by dozens of Nassau and Suffolk libraries.
Typically, there are small rewards and/or recognition as children join and then reach milestones—e.g., 100 books, 500 books. Library social media and press release draw attention to dedicated young readers and their families. The Facebook page of one Nassau library, for example, recently featured a montage of photos documenting one youngsters progress from 100 books to 1,000. Even People magazine is on board, and recently reported on a four-year-old who was named “Librarian for a Day” at the Library of Congress after reaching her 1,000 books goal.
Right now there are 30 public libraries in Nassau County offering the program and two more starting this fall, along with numerous Suffolk County sites (see below). You can support your students’ literacy by making sure their parents know about the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program—and by teaming up with your local children’s librarians to promote it. In addition, “…it would be great if they shared with parents the titles they have read during the week to the children in their classes,” suggests Renee McGrath from the Nassau Library System. “Parents could then check these books out of their local libraries and include them in their 1,000 books tally.”
The list of participating libraries is given below. New libraries are joining every year, so please contact your local branch if you don’t see it listed.
Nassau County
Baldwin
Bayville
Bethpage
East Meadow
East Rockaway
Elmont
Farmingdale
Floral Park
Freeport
Glen Cove
Gold Coast (launching in Oct. 2017)
Island Park
Jericho
Levittown
Locust Valley (starting in Sept. 2017)
Malverne
Manhasset
Massapequa
Mineola
North Bellmore
North Merrick
Oceanside
Roosevelt
Rockville Centre
Sea Cliff
Seaford
Syosset
Valley Stream
Wantagh
West Hempstead
Westbury
Suffolk County
Amityville
Babylon
Bay Shore-Brightwaters
Brookhaven
Center Moriches
Comsewogue
Connetquot
East Islip
Half Hollow Hills
Hauppauge
Huntington
Islip
Lindenhurst
Patchogue-Medford
Riverhead
West Babylon
Westhampton
Wyandanch