"I believe that a number of wonderful collaborative projects germinated over the course of the past few days," wrote Claude Stephens, director of education for the Tallahassee Museum of History & Natural Science.
She was writing to the organizers of the Center for the Book's Library- Head Start-Museum partnership workshop, held in Orlando on Feb. 23- 25. More than 60 Florida librarians, Head Start teachers and administrators, and museum specialists participated in the meeting, which was organized and hosted by the Florida Center for the Book.
The purpose of the session was to develop guidelines and ideas for cooperative projects that bring libraries, museums and Head Start programs together at the community level to promote reading and family literacy.
"This was our first workshop to focus on a state instead of a region and to include museums," said John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book and project director. "We were very pleased with the outcome and hope to continue these efforts in other parts of the country. The partnership, which emphasizes sharing community resources to foster lifelong learning, is catching on all over the country. For example, in November and December, the Missouri State Library sponsored workshops for public library and Head Start staffs in five different communities."
The Florida workshop was an extension of the Library-Head Start Partnership Project that began in 1992 with a joint agreement between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Head Start Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services. Workshops were held in Sacramento, Calif. (December 1993); Richmond, Va. (March 1994); and Topeka, Kan. (May 1994).
A planning conference at the Library of Congress in September 1994 inaugurated the project's new phase - - the involvement of museums that serve children (see LC Information Bulletin, Oct. 31, 1994).
The major link to libraries is the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association. The Association of Youth Museums (AYM) is the principal partnership link to museums. Youth services advocate Virginia H. Mathews, a consultant to the LC Center for the Book, is the project coordinator.
Principal speakers and session leaders at the Orlando workshop included: Carole D. Fiore, youth services consultant, Florida State Library; William Fillmore, president, Florida Head Start Directors Association; Jean Trebbi, director, Florida Center for the Book; Janet Rice Elman, executive director, AYM; Barbara Zohlman, executive director, Miami Youth Museum; Susan Roman, executive director, ALSC; Mary Bryant, Office of Early Intervention and School Readiness, Florida State Department of Education; Carole Talan, executive director, California Literacy Resource Center; and John Mouton, program manager for Head Start, Federal Region IV, Atlanta. On Feb. 23 participants enjoyed a special program at the Orlando Science Center.
Other participants included Janice Barnes, Early Childhood Services Inc., Panama City; Lehman Barnes, Museum of Science and History, Jacksonville; Gladys Bell, Orange County Head Start, Orlando; Shirley Bowman, Child Development Services of Northeast Florida; Lisa Broadhead, Bartow Public Library.
Richard Brosnaham, Historic Pensacola Village; Betty Camp, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville; Pat Cantley, Agriculture & Labor Program, Fort Pierce; Sandra Carden, Collier County Public Schools, Immokalee; Georgann Carlton, Explorations V Children's Museum, Lakeland.
Robert Carroll, Melbourne Kiwanis Club; Linda Crowder, the Children's Museum of the Highlands, Sebring; Billy Cypress, Ah-Tha-Thi-Ki Seminole Tribal Museum, Hollywood; Essie Denoms, Broward County Division of Libraries; Maria Dominguez, Palm Beach County Library System.
Jean Ecklund, Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Immokalee; Regina Faison, Sarasota Day Nursery; Katie Finnerty, Orange County Head Start, Orlando; Gordon Formsma, Escambia County Head Start, Pensacola; Sandra Gardner, Broward County School Board, Fort Lauderdale.
Beverly Graham, Northeast Florida Community Action Agency, Jacksonville; Annie Grimes, Migrant Head Start Project, Haines City; Jane Huang, Simonole Tribe of Florida Library, Hollywood; Lisa Hurley, Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach; Virginia Irving, Happy Workers Day Nursery, St. Petersburg.
Karen Jensen, Monroe County Public Library System, Key West; Marge Johnson, Seminole County Public Library System, Casselberry; Sarabeth Kalajian, Venice Public Library; Hester Kauffman, Osceola County Library System, Kissimmee; Pam Kautz, Pinellas County Opportunity Council, Largo.
Martha Lazor, West Florida Regional Library, Pensacola; Marlene Lee, Broward County Division of Libraries, Fort Lauderdale; Beverly Leffler, Orange County Head Start, Orlando; June Level, Martin County Public Library, Stuart; Joyce Lighty, Migrant Head Start Project, Fort Pierce; Debora Lisle, Orange County Library District, Orlando.
Nancy Magi, St. Petersburg Public Library System; Vivian Mike, Early Childhood Services Inc., Panama City; Leslie Moguil, Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Immokalee; Barbara Neaton, Central Brevard Library, Cocoa; Althea Neilson, Head Start, Tampa.
Virginia Nygard, West Palm Beach Public Library; Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, Tampa; Ilene Primack, Miami Youth Museum; Maria Redburn, Collier County Public Library; Susan Rosoff, Orlando Museum of Art; Barbara Rucker, Hillsborough County Head Start, Tampa.
Peggy Rudd, State Library of Florida; Libby Rupert, Manatee County Public Library System; Roseanne Russo, Alachua County Library District; Catherine Schuyler, Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, Crawfordville; L. Douglas Scull, The Hands On Museum, St. Petersburg.
Margaret Smith, Jacksonville Public Library; Ann Spady, Leon County Public Library, Tallahassee; Katherine Taylor, Tampa Museum of Art; Carolyn Thomas, Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa; Emily Thompson, Dade County Community Action Agency, Miami.
Veda Undeen, Bradford County Public Library, Starke; Elena Vincent, Miami-Dade Public Library; and Joyce Williams, Museum of Discovery and Science, Fort Lauderdale.