Kathleen Campana

Bridging the early literacy gulf

This study assessed the impact of public library initiated early literacy training for in-home childcare workers. The results of this research demonstrate that, in this context, public libraries can play a significant role in bridging the large gap between children‟s difficulty and success in learning to read. The researchers used a pretest-posttest experimental design with childcare workers randomly assigned. The intervention consisted of training treatment group childcare providers in early literacy principles and activities that could foster specific early literacy skills. The training was provided by staff of the Pierce County [WA] Library System. The impact was assessed through two different methods. The providers responded to pre-post surveys about their early literacy knowledge and activities within their childcare. These surveys were examined for any change between the pre and postsurvey responses. The impact on the 86 three and four year olds within the childcares was measured through a pre and post one-on-one assessment using Early Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA) developed by Highscope. Researchers from the University of Washington Information School trained library staff in data collection methods, provided guidance in proper research procedures, analyzed data, and reported results. The intervention had statistically significant results with demonstrated growth in the children‟s competence related to 3 of the 4 early literacy principles and in the variety of activities related to literacy principles that the providers implemented. This study begins to fill a research gap because despite a decade of emphasis on early literacy virtually no scientific studies relating to libraries‟ impact on early literacy competency exist. Such studies are essential to libraries both in program planning and in securing financial support.

Early Literacy in Library Storytimes: A Study of Measures of Effectiveness

Across the nation, librarians work with caregivers and children to encourage engagement in their early literacy programs. However, these early literacy programs that libraries provide have been left mostly undocumented by research, especially through quantitative methods. Valuable Initiatives in Early Learning that Work Successfully (VIEWS2) was designed to test new ways to measure the effectiveness of these early literacy programs for young children (birth to kindergarten), leveraging a mixed methods, quasi-experimental design. Using two innovative tools, researchers collected data at 120 public library storytimes in the first year of research, observing approximately 1,440 children ranging from birth to 60 months of age. Analysis of year-one data showed a correlation between the early literacy content of the storytime program and children’s outcomes in terms of early literacy behaviors. These findings demonstrate that young children who attend public library storytimes are responding to the early literacy content in the storytime programs.

Communities of Practice and Connected Learning: Breaking Down Walls through the Use of Information and Communication Technologies

Valuable Initiatives in Early Learning that Work Successfully (Project VIEWS2), is an Institution for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Research Grant with the objective of providing evidence-based methods for planning and evaluating the outcomes of public library early literacy programs. This study, unusual within Library and Information Science (LIS) research, consisted of a two-year experimental design with an online intervention. Forty libraries throughout the U.S. State of Washington were randomly assigned in the two- condition study: control (20) and treatment (20). The focus of this poster is to look at how the design of an intervention, administered during Year Two of the study broke down walls among the experimental librarians through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The existence of an ongoing community of practice across geographic boundaries will be verified by post-intervention surveys and in-depth phone interviews.

Early Literacy in Library Storytimes, Part 2: A Quasi-Experimental Study and Intervention with Children’s Storytime Providers

Within the peer-reviewed literature, there is a shortage of experimental and quasi-experimental studies examining libraries’ impact on children’s early literacy development. Therefore, Project VIEWS2 (Valuable Initiatives in Early Learning That Work Successfully 2) used a quasi-experimental design to understand whether an intervention to train public library storytime providers in early literacy principles makes a difference in children’s early literacy skills. In the experimental group, comparisons of preintervention and postintervention data showed statistically significant increases in the early literacy behaviors of the providers and attendees in the experimental group. There were no significant changes in the early literacy behaviors of control group providers and their attendees. A purposeful focus on early literacy principles makes a difference in storytime programs and in early literacy behaviors when children attend storytime. This article examines the design and delivery of the intervention, its effects on the study population, and its implications for practice.

Learning by design: creating knowledge through library storytime production

Librarianship has not traditionally been considered a design practice. However, childrens librarians plan, deliver, and reflect on storytimes in implicit ways that seem to align with design principles. Drawing on empirical data from the VIEWS2 study, this poster explores the premise that design principles implicitly inform the creation of these library programs for young children. Comparing models of storytime production and models of design reveals that key design principles—especially iteration and reflection—are present throughout storytime production. The reciprocal and influential nature of these design concepts combined with the model of storytime production lead to a new model of storytime design, with implications for library research, practice, and pedagogy as well as models of design.

The Last Word: A Celebration of Storytimes

Our new book, Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide , translates the research findings of Project VIEWS21 into easy-to-follow tips and explanations on how to enhance storytimes and contribute to the early learning development of the children who attend. Enjoy this excerpt and celebrate the magic and fun of storytimes.

Connecting collections and cultures by creating a community of children's librarians around early literacy storytimes

Communities of practice are important tools for professional development, encouraging peer-to-peer learning and knowledge creation. This study, which is part of a three-year Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership Research Grant, examined childrens librarians’ perceptions of a community of practice they created during an extended online, interactive training program. The librarians shared both positive and negative perceptions of the community that was created during the training. Through the interviews it became apparent that while creating a community of practice the librarians made connections between their collections and shared their library cultures.

Harry Potter Fans Discover the Pleasures of Transfiguration

The continued and widespread popularity of the Harry Potter novels is easy to document. Since 1997, when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone [Book 1] was first published in the United Kingdom, more than 450 million copies have been sold and the seven volumes have been translated into 73 languages (“Harry Potter Series”). Moreover, more than five years after the publication of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [Book 7], scholars from a wide range of disciplines and approaches continue to analyse the texts: this is evidenced by articles in the Spring 2012 and Winter 2011 issues of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly (Galway; Dendle), in the 2012 and 2011 volumes of Children’s Literature (Fitzsimmons; Wolosky; Cantrell), and by a recent book by Colin Manlove. Fan fiction and other social media sites, including J. K. Rowling’s own Pottermore website, have created new communities of readers which offer enhanced ways to interact with the original Potter novels.