Last year, my library (Cuyahoga County Public Library-CCPL) had the opportunity to participate in an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant that had been awarded to the Family Place Libraries™ in partnership with the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology (OET) and Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy (GI) at Penn State University. Our charge? To give constructive feedback on the Smithsonian’s Talk with Me Toolkits so that they could be updated and made more useful to families.  Four libraries participated in the grant: CCPL, Middle Country Public Library, Hillsboro City Library, and York County Libraries.  The toolkits were developed for children ages 5-8 and their adults, using the Smithsonian’s collections to foster conversation and promote children’s language development.  In short—this aligns firmly with Every Child Ready to Read skills that can still be developed and enriched during the early elementary years (such as the practice of talking and … Continue reading Talk with Me Toolkits