About my journey
I am an early literacy trainer and advocate for young children. My practice and trainings are inspired by my belief that library staff can help improve childhood educational outcomes by influencing the adults in children's lives to embrace the joy of sharing books with children.
It is through these intentional interactions between adults and children around books and conversations that the foundation upon which a child who will be able to read with understanding is built.
Early in my career, I worked as children’s librarian and branch manager in Chicago’s hugely Spanish-speaking communities. Proficient in Spanish, I held bilingual programs and did outreach, with an eye to finding funds from grants to supplement the budget. Projects in Chicago include creating a reading garden and family learning center and training young adults to hold programs for young children.
A hallmark of my career has been to respond to the needs of the community I work with. For example, the realization that some native Spanish-speakers were struggling to learn English because they were illiterate in Spanish led me to write grants to fund family literacy programs for them as a first step in furthering their education.
As a manager of a busy branch with Allen County Public Library (ACPL), I continued my work with children doing storytimes in childcare homes and ministries on the lowest level in Indiana’s childcare rating system. Experiences with my children’s school led me to run for, and be elected as a trustee of Fort Wayne Community Schools. This term in office reinforced my understanding that poor children who start out behind their classmates rarely catch up.
The creation of Every Child Ready to Read gave my the tools I needed to bring more services to the children of Allen County. Among my projects was the creation of a strength-based program for adults on the importance of reading with children at the local WIC office, presented by various librarians whom I trained. Grant-funded projects gave a boost to various branches as I worked with staff to update early learning environments in branches. Another project was partnering with neighborhood businesses to promote early learning in their shops, creating Story Walks, and promoting reading and talking with children with signs and bumper stickers.
After retiring from ACPL I have been able to continue to pursue my passion to share information about early literacy through my work with Knox County Head Start which is funded by a private foundation. Through shared book experiences and staff training we are growing the impact of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Writing and publishing books and articles and creating and providing training have been a wonderful challenge. Learning about math, science, executive function and all that is involved in helping sustain children as they grow and learn is rewarding and an on-going adventure. It is this energy, experience and enthusiasm that I bring to my training.