“Every child ready for kindergarten” is one of the library’s five community impact goals. We are taking a systems approach to tackle the fact that 55 percent of our community’s children enter kindergarten unprepared and behind their peers. The "L&P" bus is staffed by the library and other early learning experts, which is a key strategy to provide literacy, social and parent engagement activities where these families live.

The "L&P" bus brings resources to families in low income neighborhoods. Six "L&P" bus sites were selected based on the number of children not attending preschool or on waitlists for Head Start. In addition to learning through play for children, early learning experts from around the community help families with health and nutrition, language development, fine motor development and social-emotional development. The library is committed to scaling this effort to include the most vulnerable families.

Many families make the "L&P" bus a weekly destination. The staff see improved language development, more confidence in children transitioning between activities, increased parent engagement and more knowledge of early learning skills. The "L&P" bus early learning experts have developed one-on-one relationships with families and children. Since the launch in February 2017, the "L&P" bus has reached more than 250 families and we anticipate continual growth as we expand the service.