Family Reading

Read together, Learn Together - Family Reading Program

Watch House Cross Community Library supports life long learning by providing a space that encourages a love of reading and promotes literacy, culture and information access on the north side of Limerick City. The ‘Read together, Learn together’ family reading program concentrates on developing a relationship between the library service and local families in the regeneration areas. The program promotes a sense of ownership of the library through activities and visits, thereby increasing use of the service by the community. By engaging with the family as a whole and not just the children on their own, the program focuses on promoting literacy in the community encouraging shared reading, bedtime reading and a love of books.

This is a partnership programme, stakeholders include the Home School Liaison Officers who provide the vital link to the schools and The Limerick City Childcare Committee who provide funding and support.

   ‘Read together, learn together’ is aimed at children between the ages of 4-6, concentrating on junior infant and early start classes. The program takes place over three or four sessions depending on the teacher’s preference. Children are brought to the library by the teacher and parents attend usually at the end of the school day, so that they can take their child home directly from the library. The intention is to break down barriers and preconceived ideas that discourage parents from using the service.

 Session 1 includes a story time session for parents and children with lots of participation rhymes and songs, after which the parents are invited for a tour of the library, while the children have a craft session.  The building facilitates a varied tour with lots of distinct areas of interest such as a PC room, exhibition space, craft and language room as well as the book and music collections.  The key to these tours are the library staff themselves, who can provide a friendly and welcoming introduction to the library for parents many of whom may be early school leavers or have literacy issues themselves.

 Session 2 focuses on reading at home, the role of books, storytelling, rhymes and songs in your child’s development and how to choose appropriate books for your child. Parent and child are then encouraged explore the children’s section of the library and choose a special book together for that nights bed time.

 Session 3 In the final visit parents and children together enjoy a fun and interactive session with Storyteller Nell Smith.  Nell uses music, movement and mime which fascinates children of this age and parents can enjoy as well. It’s a fun segment which leaves the group with a positive memory of the library experience, in the hope they will return with their child to borrow books, use the internet or just read the paper.

The ‘Read together, learn together’ was a pilot programme started in October 2010, since then 6 classes have visited the library all from local schools with their parents, many of whom would not have been to the library  before. The intention for the 2011/12 programme is to begin to track library usage and membership of the families who have taken part.

We hope to continue the program long term making it an annual event for parents and teachers in the local schools so that every child in the area gets a welcoming introduction to the library and the world of books.