August 11, 1993

Contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940
Jill Brett (202) 707-2905

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Library-Head Start Partnership Project Enters Second Phase

Video Available After September 15, 1993

The Library-Head Start Partnership Project, administered through a joint agreement between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Head Start Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has entered its second phase. Carried out in collaboration with the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), this project is designed to demonstrate in communities nationwide how libraries that serve children and Head Start programs can work together to enhance children's learning as well as parental involvement in children's literacy and language development.

A 40-minute video, the basic element in the project's multimedia resource package, has been completed and will be sent to all Head Start grantees after September 15, 1993. The video describes how to form a library-Head Start partnership and is accompanied by a brief printed guide that includes the script, a bibliography of materials cited, and other information for using the video with a variety of audiences and in diverse situations.

The video and the printed guide will be available to librarians and others after September 15 in return for a $25 contribution to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540. Checks should be made payable to the Center for the Book/LC.

The video was filmed primarily at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library of the District of Columbia Public Library System, and in the Head Start classroom at the Viers Mill Elementary School of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools.

The videotape consists of four segments, each approximately 10 minutes in length. Segment I explores the scope of the "Library- Head Start Partnership" and how it can work; Segment II, "Entering the World of Books," demonstrates the wide variety of library programs, including storytelling, reading aloud, puppets, dramatic play, and the many other enhancements that can make books a joyful experience for small children, such as video and audio tapes; Segment III, provides detailed "Evaluation and Selection of Materials," criteria for deciding "what makes a book good"; and Segment IV tells about "Library Assistance to Adults" in the Head Start world--teachers, aides, volunteers, parents and others who are "family" to the children. Selections of this segment include "Building Bridges to the Home," "Library Resources for Adults," and "Technical Assistance for Head Start Staff." This segment shows how the presence of library materials and staff in the lives of Head Start children not only supports children in their learning, but affects the all-important parent involvement component of Head Start.

The next phase of the project is the development of a loose-leaf resource notebook that will be tested in three regional pilot workshops to be held in 1993-94. The workshops will be organized by state centers for the book in California, Kansas and Virginia.

The Association for Library Service to Children is a division of the 55,000-member American Library Association. More than 4,000 members of ALSC will be involved with Head Start leadership in communities across the country in developing a network of library and family literacy resources that will ensure that more children reach school ready to learn.

Head Start was launched by the federal government in 1965 to help young children from low-income families get a better start in life. Aimed primarily at 3- to 5- year-olds, it is a comprehensive child development program that fosters learning, better health, active parental involvement, and family self- sufficiency. More than 600,000 children and families are served by Head Start programs each year.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established by law in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. In addition to 28 affiliated state centers, it has enlisted more than 100 organizations, private and governmental, as reading promotion partners. This project with Head Start continues a cooperative effort that started with a 1989 "Year of the Young Reader" symposium on "Learning Opportunities for Children: Libraries and Their Partners," which was sponsored by the center and ALSC.

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PR 93-104
8/11/93
ISSN 0731-3527