Allan Bishop
Special to the Chief
The 樱桃视频Public Library has teamed up with the Health Unit to promote BC's Books for Babies initiative.
The aim of the provincial initiative is to get a book bag out to the family of every baby born in the province. In the book bag is either a French, English, or Punjabi board book, Raffi's CD Baby Beluga & Three Other Songs, a guide for parents, a "Every Child Ready to Read" informative brochure on the initiative, and an invitation to a library party for all the 樱桃视频babies that have been born since the inauguration of the initiative.
Children's librarian Hilary Bloom promotes the program in 樱桃视频and presents the families with the book bags."We're working in conjunction with the health unit. It's a really important partnership because they have the link to the families," said Bloom.
Before the two joined forces, the book bags weren't getting out to all the families. Now, when the family comes for the baby's shots at the health unit, they will receive their book bag.
The province has introduced the Books for Babies as part of its aim to make BC the most literate jurisdiction in North America. The organization is acting on research conducted that has found a connection between early childhood literacy and having books in the home, singing, talking and of course reading to babies.
Children that are talked to, sung to, and read to by their caregivers exhibit language skills greater than those children who received littler verbal stimulation, according to the BC Books for Babies website.
"We're promoting literacy by delivering a book to each family. Research has shown the importance of books in the home and the importance of introducing books at a young age," said Bloom.
Another key part of Books for Babies is introducing all the library's resources to new parents.
"We used to do a similar initiative at the public library. I'm happy to see that this program is now going to be reaching families across the province. I'm definitely excited," said Bloom.
