A collaborative family literacy project between Hennepin County Library and Hennepin County Adult Corrections Facility
Working with community volunteers, the Hennepin County Library (HCL) and Hennepin County Adult Corrections Facility (ACF) created the Read to Me program to teach residents at the facility the critical importance of reading to their children. Research consistently shows that reading to a child is the single most important factor in creating a literate adult. A significantly large percentage of ACF residents, both in the Men’s Section and the Women’s Section, have not experienced in their childhood the joy of a loving parent or adult reading to them from birth on. The lack of this experience leads to a lack of awareness of the strong positive impact reading has on children’s literacy development and school readiness, and additionally the lack of confidence about how to go about reading to their children. Many ACF residents have low literacy skills and reading disabilities, undermining their confidence about reading aloud.
ACF residents frequently have little knowledge about age-appropriate books and the various learning, growth and developmental stages of their children. Many parents, especially fathers, have no recollection of being read to as children.
When a parent is incarcerated, children can go through many stages of loss and grief, and often lives with the fear that their separation may be permanent. Most often, the resident feels powerless to help the child even if he or she realizes that these fears exist in the child. The Read to Me program uses books and reading to build bridges between young children and their incarcerated parents.
Background
Corrections staff observed that children coming to the jail to visit parents were usually not an important part of the visit. The child or children simply stood by while the adults talked via telephone through the glass separation wall. The resident needed help to view the child’s presence differently and to learn ways to relate.
In 1996, ACF staff extended an invitation to Hennepin County Library, a separate county department already involved in providing adult reading materials for the residents, to supply a large number of children’s books for use in the lobby for children to share with their parents during visits. The intention was to foster positive, meaningful interactions between parent residents and their visiting children. The program expanded into an intensive 10 month series of classes focusing on the pleasure and importance of reading with young children.
Objectives
The Read to Me program has four main objectives:
1. To model for the resident through discussion, video, reading aloud and personal experiences the absolute importance and impact reading has in the lives of children, and the potential the library holds for parents and children as a source of lifelong learning and support.
2. To provide a safe place for the resident to talk about his or her own experiences with reading or lack of reading and to share the loss typically felt by the lack of the parent-child reading experience.
3. To provide a vast cross section of excellent books for children of all ages and diverse backgrounds for the residents to examine and read.
4. To give many opportunities to the residents to practice reading children’s books, learn about age-appropriate books, and choose and record new books as gifts for their child.
5. To use books as the vehicle to provide a positive connection between parent and children during the parent’s incarceration.
The program consists of a series of two 90-minute sessions in the Men’s and Women’s Sections scheduled over consecutive weeks. These series are repeated twelve times per year in each section. Upon completion of the course, the resident receives a certificate of accomplishment.
Activities during the series include:
• Opportunities to see and discuss outstanding children’s books, including old favorites and new titles representing the diversity and ages of the children involved.
• Suggestions from library staff and volunteers on how to make reading aloud fun. Providing the opportunity for residents to practice reading aloud.
• An educational video about early literacy and family use of libraries is shown to stimulate discussion.
• Opportunities for ACF residents, volunteers and library staff to discuss favorite childhood reading memories and current reading interests.
• Information about resources and services available in the public library and encouragement to the ACF residents to consider the library as a place to visit when they are back with their children.
• Opportunities to choose an age-appropriate new book as a gift for each of their children and make a recording them reading of the story. The books and CD are mailed to each child with a photo of their parent reading the book.
The project is coordinated by the HCL Corrections Librarian and ACF Volunteer Coordinator. Each session is facilitated by a HCL librarian and supported by trained community volunteers.
Evaluation
At the completion of each series, the resident participants are asked to complete an evaluation. Based on the compilation of all the evaluations, the residents:
• Learned information about children’s brain development, and the need for stimulation.
• Found multiple uses for the information they had learned, including:
– How to choose books for children and use them to support pre-reading skills (sound awareness, vocabulary development)
– How to use the library for multiple purposes
• Experienced the positive effects of being read to, even as an adult.
Residents consistently make positive comments about the Read to Me program. For example:
“It is a very good and touching program. It makes a father know that it is important to read and tell stories to kids – I hadn’t realized how important it is. I’m planning on keeping doing it when I get out.” – George
“I hope my daughter keeps that recording and book forever! Maybe for her kids” – Kevin
“I think it is a very good and important program that they should do in high school so more parents know ways of raising their kids better” – Terri
Based on reports submitted by volunteers and librarians throughout the year, they:
• Observed that residents were amazed at the effect reading to their children can have.
• Reported that residents were highly interested in learning about age- appropriate books and how to choose them.