School Readiness and the Library

Image by tolmacho from Pixabay

School is right around the corner (or maybe already in session) meaning it's a great time to think about how the library can support kids heading into Kindergarten.

"Many, if not all, public library systems provide story time for their preschool-aged patrons. These story times focus on early literacy skills to help get children ready to read. We often market these programs as helping to prepare children for preschool. This is because we know that early exposure to singing, talking, and reading sets children up to become successful readers. However, there is even more that the library can offer in terms of school readiness programs," writes Anna Melvin on the ALSC blog.

Inspired by professional development trainings hosted by DC Public Schools, she put together a four day program she runs to simulate a typical school day for kids entering school for the first time. Each day includes circle time, a group read-aloud, a group craft, and different stations for the kids and their grown-ups to work through at their own pace.

The program went over extremely well with Melvin's patrons, "Many of the patrons who attended still discuss last summer’s program with me a year later. I also had families inquiring about the program for this summer back in January! Because of the previous year’s success, I am able to host this program again and get even more children ready for preschool."

To read the whole article (check out the planning spreadsheet Melvin links to at the end that includes each days activities and schedule), stop here.  [Little Learners: Getting Ready for PreK at the Library. Anna Melvin. ALSC blog. July 29, 2025.]

You may also some useful tips for school readiness in Lindsay Barrett's 4 Ways To Stress Less About Kindergarten Readiness post on the Read Brightly blog. While geared towards caregivers, there are some ideas that could be adapted to a library program setting. 

Stop here to read her post.  [4 Ways To Stress Less About Kindergarten Readiness. Lindsay Barrett. Read Brightly blog. undated.]

Do you have a program similar to this a your library? What as been your experience with it?

Pilot Sites Announced for Reimagining School Readiness IMLS Project

Four WI libraries have been announced as pilot sites to use the new Reimagining School Readiness Toolkit with their community families. The feedback received from this use will guide changes to the existing Toolkit.

The libraries selected:  
Lester Library in Two Rivers (Terry Ehle, site lead); Mead Public Library in Sheboygan (Alison Loewen, site lead); Monticello Public Library (Krystal Watkins, site lead); and Plum Lake Public Library in Sayner (Emilie Braunel, site lead). These locations were selected through a competitive application process stemming from the October 24th, 2019 Reimagining School Readiness training hosted by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). A total of 12 pilot sites were selected nationally. DPI is a partner state in the Reimagining School Readiness Project.

Stop here to read the full blog post with all the details of this exciting project shared by Tessa Michaelson Schmidt.

An Exciting IMLS Partnership for WI Youth Librarians

In an exciting blog post from Tessa Michaelson Schmidt on the WI Libraries from Everyone blog, she announced: "Wisconsin will take part in a three-year project with the Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM) to support early learning in public libraries for children ages 0-8 and their families."

This means that there will be training, opportunities to share and build on the Museum's initial work in CA with libraries to develop the brand new Reimaging School Readiness Toolkit (lwith additional info in this recent YSS blog article) and push it out nationally. In year one, 50 librarians from WI, AZ and KY (each of the new partner states) "will receive training on the existing Toolkit. A subset of these librarians, in addition to librarians who have been using the Toolkit in California, will participate in an evaluation to assess the Toolkit’s impact. These evaluations will also allow BADM staff to refine the Toolkit to ensure it is as effective as possible for as many librarians as possible across the country. In Year Two, 20 library staff from 10 states—all four of the Year One states and six new Year Two states—will be trained as trainers, who are then responsible for training additional library cohorts in their states. In Year Three, 16 library staff from eight new states will be trained as trainers, and will be responsible for training library cohorts in their states."

To read the full post, please click here. Congratulations to Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, who will lead the WI part of the project, and WI!