Toronto Public Library announces Let's Get Ready for Reading: a fun and easy guide to help kids become readers

Early literacy resource guide to be distributed free of charge to thousands of families across Toronto, and to every public library in Ontario

TORONTO, March 26, 2013 /CNW/ - At a launch event for its new publication, the Toronto Public Library today announced that it will be widely distributing free copies of its new research-supported early literacy resource, Let's Get Ready for Reading: a fun and easy guide to help kids become readers. Through an ambitious plan - made possible through funding from the Toronto Public Library Foundation, thanks to a generous donation by an anonymous donor and support provided by the J.P. Bickell Foundation and the Rotary Club of Toronto - thousands of families in Toronto will have access to high quality research-based activities, resources, tips and librarian-recommended reading lists that help build reading readiness in children birth to five years old. Recognizing the critical role that libraries play in building early literacy skills and cultivating a lifelong love of reading, the Toronto Public Library is also providing a free copy to every library branch of every public library system in Ontario.

"Toronto Public Library is proud of this one-of-a-kind resource, and we are thrilled to be able to put it into the hands of so many parents, caregivers, educators and librarians across the city and province," said City Librarian Jane Pyper. "I would like to recognize the great work of our Foundation and thank our donors, whose generosity and commitment to the library make this publication possible".

The Let's Get Ready for Reading guide is available now to browse and borrow from all branches of Toronto Public Library, and over the coming months it will be distributed for free across Toronto to kindergartners, Ontario Early Years Centres, city-funded literacy centres, Parenting and Family Literacy Centres and licensed daycares, and to every public library in Ontario.

And through a partnership with Toronto Public Health, copies of Let's Get Ready for Reading will also be given this year to newborns and toddlers in Toronto via programs for new parents. Free copies of the guide will also be given to preschoolers who register for or renew a Toronto Public Library card during an upcoming campaign, and through the Toronto Public Library's community outreach programs.

Copies of the guide will be available for purchase at Toronto Public Library branches across the city.

Let's Get Ready for Reading was developed for Ontario parents by Toronto Public Library children's librarians, caregivers and educators, as they support early literacy in children, birth to five. The guide was created to provide parents and caregivers with a broad understanding of the important pre-literacy skills that help develop reading readiness, and illustrates to them that reading success - and later success in school - is achievable through fun and easy everyday activities.

The guide contains:

• Suggestions for fun, easy , everyday activities and games that foster reading readiness
• Librarian-recommended reading booklists
• Tricks and resources to help get your child "ready for reading"
• And much more!

"While the task might sound overwhelming at first to parents, it's the simple and imaginative activities that are the blocks literacy success and early childhood development are built on," said David Booth, national literacy expert, children's author and professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto. "Let's Get Ready for Reading's friendly, encouraging and accessible approach empowers parents and caregivers. I'm delighted that copies can be found not only in public libraries, but will be available in literacy centres, daycares, schools and homes. This is a valuable tool that parents, caregivers and educators should always have on hand."

The guide is part of Toronto Public Library's Ready for Reading set of free, high-quality early literacy programs, services and resources, which are founded on extensive research, and which focus on important principles and practices that foster reading readiness - the essential skills for children before they learn to read.

Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year, 19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow 32 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get the most current updates on what's happening at the library, follow us on Twitter @torontolibrary.

The Toronto Public Library Foundation believes in the social benefits of a strong and healthy public library system. As a registered charity, the Foundation fosters relationships with people of vision to provide Toronto's Library with improved and expanded collections, enhanced programs and services, and revitalized community spaces.

SOURCE: Toronto Public Library

Media Contact: 
Michelle Leung
[email protected]