The Library Foundation raises funds to support Read to Me L.A., an initiative started in fall 2007 and designed to help develop pre-literacy skills.

Read to Me L.A. is modeled on the nationally acclaimed Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® program developed by the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children in collaboration with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

Through this program, the Los Angles Public Library children's librarians train parents/caregivers on "how" and "why" to read to children. During storytime workshops, parents/caregivers are introduced to books that are fun for children, but also involve one or more of these essential literacy skills: print motivation, narrative skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge and print awareness. According to research, by mastering these concepts preschoolers are more likely to become good readers when they enter kindergarten and begin formal reading instruction.

Parents also learn how to enrich their home by carrying on their own storytime tradition. Workshops convey how to make the home a reading laboratory by using the library as a basic resource. Books, booklists, and tips are distributed to the parents so they can continue the early literacy instruction on a daily basis.

Read to Me L.A. gives librarians the opportunity to reach out to the community to prepare its youngest residents for the formal reading instruction they will receive in elementary school. It exposes children to quality literature, encourages parents to add reading to their daily lives and establishes LAPL as a reading headquarters.

Donor funds support training and workshop materials as well as free cultural programs at each branch chosen by performers whose programs are particularly well suited to preschoolers. In addition, these funds support attractive marketing materials, including brochures in English and Spanish, with suggested reading lists organized by pre-reading skills. In fiscal year 2009-10, more than 37,000 adult caregivers and children attended Read to Me L.A. activities.

Schedule of Read to Me L.A. Programs

Thanks to the generosity of RGK Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, Knowledge Learning Corporation, The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, Mrs. Betty H. McLaughlin, and S&S Worldwide (in-kind) for their support of Read to Me L.A.

To learn more about funding opportunities for Read to Me L.A., please contact Dawn Coppin, Director of Foundation & Corporate Relations, at (213) 228-7502.

Support for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles is support for the Los Angeles Public Library. Every dollar counts. Your gift to the Library Foundation helps the Los Angeles Public Library grow stronger.