Several studies point to a relationship between shared reading (adults and children looking at books together) and the emotional development of young children. The age at which shared reading begins is a strong predictor of a child's language abilities. The age at which parents start to read to their child is associated with their child's interest in and enjoyment of reading activities. In turn, a child's interest in reading activities is an important predictor of his or her later reading achievement.

What your hometown Pioneer Libraries do to help

The hometown libraries of the Pioneer Library System play a major role in helping children read. Summer reading programs and children’s pre-school and after-school programs are contributors to the system’s success in making reading attractive to children.

Certainly, the fact that PLS customers have more than 433,963 items available for checkout is significant. However, the system offered more than 615 programs during summer ’07 for children, teens and adults in the nine branch libraries of Cleveland, McClain and Pottawatomie counties. The numbers reflect a record increase with 22,676 students attending programs.

Each of the hometown libraries also offers regular Story Times for young children and their caregivers. Parents, children and library staff report that preschool and summer reading programs encourage children to spend significant amounts of time with books and also encourage parents to play greater roles in their children’s literacy development—both factors leading to reading achievement.

What you do to help