Routines are an important part of a baby’s life. Every day parents feed their babies and bathe their babies. But do parents routinely read to their babies? The LSU AgCenter started the Little Bookshelf program to encourage parents to read to their babies daily.
The program, which is operating in two parishes, connects with parents of newborns at parish health units and pediatric clinics. By signing up for the program, parents are sent an age-appropriate book each month for the first year of the child’s life. The monthly mail-out is a reminder to parents of the importance of reading to their child.
Born to be a reader
Several years ago the LSU AgCenter partnered with the LSU Mid-City Pediatric Clinic in Baton Rouge to provide parents of newborns with books. The clinic serves families that can sign up for government assistance for their babies at their well-baby checkup. The program would enroll families at those checkups.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provided an opportunity to expand the program. Hundreds of thousand of books poured into the state from publishers across the country. The First Book relief project donated 80,000 books to the LSU AgCenter. Some books were distributed through 4-H Youth programs and Family and Consumer Science parenting education programs. The LSU Mid-City clinic project also received books.
Building a bookshelf
With help from grants and donations, the program moved into St. Helena Parish in 2007 and took the name Little Bookshelf. Parents can sign up for the program at the St. Helena Parish health unit. From there, they will receive a book a month. Parents also get a book to guide them when their child is sick.
One goal of the program is to impress upon parents they are a child’s first teacher, said Becky White, the program coordinator and a child and family development expert with the LSU AgCenter.
“We want them to realize the important role they are playing in their child’s life,” White said.
Children need to hear at least 10,000 words a day to get ready for school, according to White.
In addition to preparing a child for school, White said reading to a child has another very valuable component.
“It helps parents bond with their child, which is the most important task that should occur in the first three years of life,” White said.
The program expects to reach about 200 families in its first year in St. Helena and reaches around 500 a year in East Baton Rouge.
When they sign up, the families also receive a cardboard bookshelf where the books can be stored.
“It teaches them that books are to be treasured and taken care of. The bookshelf allows them to have a special place in their room for their books,” White said.
After a year in the program, parents are given a survey. Early indicators show that they are reading to their children daily or at least weekly.
More books, more stories
White would like to expand the program. Early brain research shows that the first three years are the most critical for development, she said. “If we could get 36 books for every child in a low-income family, that would be a great thing.”
Reading, White said, can be preventative medicine for families.
“Let’s stop problems before they start,” she said. “Children shouldn’t fail in school. Children shouldn’t be distant from their parents, and what better way to do that than with parents reading to their children from birth.”
The LSU AgCenter is one of 11 institutions of higher education in the Louisiana State University System. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, it provides educational services in every parish and conducts research that contributes to the economic development of the state. The LSU AgCenter does not grant degrees nor benefit from tuition increases. The LSU AgCenter plays an integral role in supporting agricultural industries, enhancing the environment, and improving the quality of life through its 4-H youth, family and community programs.