Reading Partners: PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Mission: To eradicate adult illiteracy and prepare children for learning to read by instilling a love of books in preschoolers.

The Libraries and Preschools program, funded by the nonprofit Library Adult Reading Project Literacy Council, began four years ago after a librarian from the Angeles Mesa branch of the Los Angeles Public Library started reading to children at a local preschool and leaving books behind for them.

Through partnerships between nine libraries and 17 preschools, 1,100 children from Sun Valley to Wilmington get monthly visits from local librarians, organizers said.

The librarians combine reading and interactive games to teach listening and other pre-literacy skills that will help children be prepared for reading when they begin school. The visitors also leave behind donated books after each visit.

The program operates on the idea that if children associate reading not only with the classroom but also with fun times, they will become lifelong readers.

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* Quote: “We want children to make the connection between stories that are fun to listen to and participate in and the books. You start with a story that is fun, make the connection from the story to the book, then make the connection from the book to the library.”

--Barbara Clark, secretary of L.A.R.P. Literacy Council