Early Literacy Traveling Team members worked closely with staff in each building to understand the needs of the library and community and then created intentional play areas in each library. The team worked with them through a process that included consultations, brainstorming sessions, early literacy training for staff and ongoing mentorship of youth services staff in each building. In individual libraries this included purchasing and placing items that encourage caregivers and children to play together as well as providing tips and strategies for parents about the relevance and importance of play activities in supporting school readiness – both in the community and at home. As this is a more recent direction for libraries, staff also received training, coaching and mentoring in order to ensure these areas are successful, supported and sustainable.

The project’s design was innovative in that it made use of the individual talents of team members in enhancing early literacy areas in libraries, but used a collaborative, facilitated approach that consulted, trained and engaged staff in each library building and was as a staff engagement strategy as well as an improvement for patrons. A more traditional practice may have included the county contracted with a vendor to conduct the training or install furnishings or may not have included training at all. By using a staff team to do this work, we enhanced the skillset of county employees and broadened their understanding of the diversity within the library system. We trained team members on facilitation skills and empowered them to mentor and peer-coach their own colleagues, acting as a liaison between the local needs of each building and the system-wide strategy of supporting early literacy.

The project’s measurable outcomes included the following and were achieved during 2013. The project has been extended to 2014 based on this success.

The team themselves and their approach to their work directly contributed to each of these outcomes:

• Library staff will be able to articulate one or more of the roles the library plays in supporting early literacy.
• Team members will be able to articulate the role they played in the initiative.
• Library staff members will report an increase in use of children’s area by parents and caregivers.