LAEP Receives Grant from Starbuck's Foundation to Establish Home Libraries

The Los Angeles Educational Partnership has received a $10,000 grant from The Starbucks Foundation to establish home libraries in the homes of poor families with young children in the east San Fernando Valley.

The School Readiness Library Project is an innovative approach to strengthening family reading routines and promoting language development among pre-school aged children, especially those children who come from economically disadvantaged families. With the resources provided by the Starbucks Foundation, the project will provide 70 families with six children's books to start a home library and train parents to establish family reading routines to prepare their children for kindergarten.

"The Starbucks Foundation's support of this project shows that community partnerships bring new energy and possibilities to the best of what education has to offer," said Helen Kleinberg, director of LAEP's Family Care initiative which will administer the program as part of its School Readiness Project. "Many children in the San Fernando-Pacoima area are not exposed to books until their first day of kindergarten. Families have limited books because they are considered a luxury in most homes, the local public library is not within walking distance and often there is no bookstore in the community."

The School Readiness Project helps prepare young children, under three years old, for school success by developing needed learning skills at home. Paraprofessionals work with parents teaching them how to stimulate learning in their children on a daily basis.

Currently, nine school readiness Project paraprofessionals conduct home visits with almost 100 families in the Pacoima-San Fernando area, mentoring parents on practical oral language and literacy skills to stimulate early brain development. These paraprofessionals also assist each family in creating a home library by providing each family with a new book each week. Books are lent to families for a week and exchanged for other books when the paraprofessional returns for the next scheduled visit. The Library Project will provide the resources for parents to choose six books to keep in their home permanently.

"We expect to have all of our family libraries in place by the end of the year, but will continue to follow up with families well beyond that time" Kleinberg said.

	Related Links School Readiness Project Sets Foundation for Successful Learning Learn more about LAEP's Family Care initiative

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