Library's 1,000 Books Program Encourages Reading To Kids

TOWSON, MD —The Baltimore Public Library (BCPL) announced the launch of its 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten reading program earlier this week. The interactive program is designed to encourage parents and caregivers to read to even the youngest children regularly in order to embed strong literacy skills before they enter kindergarten.

Participants in the program can register on Beanstack, and can record their child's reading activity online, through an app or on a printable paper reading log. Reading to a child, taking a child to story time, listening to an audiobook and a child practicing their own reading all qualify as reading activity.

Hitting certain milestones will qualify children for prizes. Children will receive a special sticker for 100 books read. A completion prize is handed out to those who reach 1,000 books.

The program has no minimum age requirement and has been established in libraries across the country.

According to a release from the BCPL, reading out loud with a child helps them develop important literacy skills - such as speaking, listening and communicating - before they start kindergarten. The more words and stories a child hears, the better they can understand the world around them.

"(The program) 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten will help build little ones' pre-reading skills, vocabulary, and love of reading as they prepare for kindergarten," said Conni Strittmatter, BCPL's youth and family engagement manager. "Children will learn that reading can be educational and also fun!"

Strittmatter continued: "When children complete the program and receive their prize, they’ll learn that accomplishments are worth celebrating and commitments are worth sticking to, even when they may take a long time to finish."