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11 Questions is an ongoing feature where you, the reader, tell us all about a project you are working on to create a more functional, just, and beautiful future. Then we share your project on The Sunny Way. To tell us about your project, either fill out the survey, or copy the questions below and email your answers to us. We look forward to featuring your good work soon!

Your location
SF Bay Area, CA

Your project’s name
Read to Your Baby

What are you creating with this project? What are your goals?
I am a children’s librarian who works in a city with one of the highest rates of violent crime in America. In learning about the connection between parents engaging in literacy activities with infants and the reduced odds of those children becoming involved in violent crime later in life, I came to see what a vital service infant literacy could perform in our communities. Since I work for the public library, my goal is to create infant literacy programming for the branches I serve and generate interest in those programs. I hope to inspire my colleagues to do the same.

Infant literacy has boomed in librarianship in recent years. Children do not start school until at least three years of age; before that, there is no single, consistent, free resource for parents to learn how to educate their infants—and research shows that a child who starts preschool with little preparation will likely never catch up to her peers! The education babies get from their parents—their first, best teachers—will determine their success for the rest of their lives, and there is no single, consistently promoted place for parents to learn how to provide that education.

Every parent preparing for the birth of a child should be told “take her to the library.” Every nursing mother who receives public assistance for food and shelter should also be driven to the nearest library.

How did you get started?
I worked in a library with a strong infant literacy program, and the adults and babies LOVED it. In fact, they loved it so much that the room overflowed with people and songs every Wednesday morning—the crowd was almost unmanageable!

After that job, I spent some time working as a nanny, and was able to work one-on-one with infants for the first time since receiving training in early literacy. The babies I cared for responded amazingly well, and parents were ecstatic. More importantly, though, I also experienced firsthand the frustration and difficulty of spending entire days with an infant, which allowed me to empathize with parents who just do not know what to do with their baby. They do not come with instruction manuals! LIBRARIES, I thought, can provide that instruction manual.

In my current library job, I started an infant storytime and it has been a roaring success. My current community is a wealthy one, and parents there have quickly come to understand the value of infant literacy. Working there has allowed me to hone my skills in teaching parents and babies literacy activities. Now, I want to create and promote similar programs in libraries that serve economically disadvantaged communities, where, statistically, infants receive less exposure to books and reading than in middle- and upper-class ones.

What’s the current state of your project?
Troubled, but optimistic. Financial crisis in our library system is necessitating cuts to programming, materials, staff. IF I manage to hold onto my job through the crisis, I plan to keep suggesting that, if our libraries re-focus children’s services on infant/toddler literacy, we can benefit our communities and also prove that the library is a vital community resource, and has a direct link to violence prevention.

What’s your next milestone? How are you getting there?
I am about to begin a brief stint in a different library, where the community is financially disadvantaged and probably 90% Spanish-speaking. I won’t be there long enough to create a lasting program, but while I am there, I plan to provide storytimes that introduce infant literacy techniques in Spanish, and spend as much time as possible talking with parents one-on-one about infant literacy. If I can even just show a handful of parents the importance of talking to their babies and sharing books with them, I will have accomplished something.

Is this an individual or a team project? How did you assemble your team? How do you work together? Do you work with other organizations?
Both individual and team. I organized my baby storytime on my own; now, I am trying to share it with my colleagues. Most of them have already had training on infant literacy and are convinced of its value. I would like to spread my enthusiasm to them, as well as my belief that a focus on infant literacy can not only improve our communities but also help to preserve our jobs!

My team is the children’s services department at my city’s library, a group of amazingly strong, talented, smart, inventive, and dedicated librarians. I am so excited to see where we might take these ideas in the coming years.

Other organizations: I would love to partner with hospitals and other community health resources to target new parents before and immediately after their children are born.

Why are you doing this? Why is this project important to you? How does it fit into the big picture?
I’ve seen firsthand the difference literacy activities can make in a young child’s life, and know that the advantages she gains can keep her in school as a teenager, keep him out of prison as an adult.

Describe how readers can contribute to or participate in your project
Visit your local library and ask what kinds of programs they have for infant literacy—-baby bounce, Mother Goose on the Loose, Buena Casa Buena Brasa, etc.

If you know a parent of an infant or toddler, encourage them to take their child to their local library and ask the librarian for suggestions, ideas to help develop their child’s literacy skills.

How can The Sunny Way support your activities?
You already have—writing this out has helped me clarify my vision.

Keep up the positive attitude!! Also, connect me with others who are interested in the same project!