1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Thank you for your interest in the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge!

You can pick up a welcome bag any time the library is open. Your welcome bag will contain an explanation of why early literacy is so important, program registration form, reading logs to help you keep track of the number of books read, and one book to help you get started. We hope that you will register by returning your registration form to the library.

The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless. Read a book (any book) to your newborn, infant, and/or toddler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes you can repeat books) before your precious one starts kindergarten. Books that your child hears as part of library programs and story times also count towards your goal. Don’t forget to mark them down!

Does it sound hard?

Not really, if you think about it. If you read just 1 book a night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years. If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think! The best thing you can do is begin today! Log your books on paper as you read, or, if you prefer, you can download the 1,000 Book Before Kindergarten app in your Google or Apple app store. This app allows you to track progress digitally.

We hope that you will join us on this journey with your child to 1,000 books before Kindergarten. Your friends at the Barrett Paradise Friendly Library are always here to help you on this journey with book recommendations and ideas for making reading special for your child. The key to completing this challenge is perseverance. Make it exciting. When your child reaches a milestone, celebrate and come to the library to receive your prize! We will also be hosting quarerly parties to celebrate all of our participants, wherever they are on the journey.

There are apps available in the Andriod and Apple stores that will help you track your child’s progress:

• iPhone App available on iTunes

• Android App available on Google Play

• iPhone and Android App Instructions (.html)

• iPhone and Android App Instructions (downloadable .pdf)

• or download and print a paper reading log here

There is much more information, including reading lists and extension activities, available at www.1000BooksBeforeKindergarten.org

Library Director Cindy DeLuca with Gavin Barber, who drew our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten logo.

Graphic Designer Aaron Imbt (not pictured) also helped with the design.

The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge is dedicated to the memory of  Sharon P. LaGuardia, who both volunteered at the library for many years and spent many hours reading to our young patrons.

 

Known to all as “Miss Sharon,” she read the stories with dramatic flair that underscored the humor, the mystery and the meaning, just as she had done when her own children were very young. Sharon believed that reading was one of the keys to a fulfilling emotional and informed life.  That belief stemmed from her early girlhood, when she passed many hours reading avidly at her home library in Louisville, Kentucky.  Books remained among her dearest friends all her life.

Sharon’s family is grateful to Barrett Paradise Friendly Library for directing the many contributions made in her honor to this vital learning program. 

She is no doubt smiling now and very proud of the achievements of her former listeners.  She was a true friend to the library and delighted in sparking the imaginations of young children.

This initiative has also been supported by Countryside Preschool and Daycare Center. Early literacy skills are crucial to school-readiness, and we are very grateful for the support we have received for this program.