Heartbeat of Toledo<\/a>, Ohio was the first place to distribute the handouts, specifically to disadvantaged parents.\u00a0 Parents were very receptive to how the content was presented\u00a0and told the Executive Director, Pat Todak, of the impact it has made in their daily routine of interacting with their child.<\/p>\n The next program to use the handouts was Reach Out And Read<\/a> at the University of Toledo Pediatric Center.\u00a0 At every appointment, nurses give a child an age appropriate book to take home. This could be the first book that child receives.\u00a0 However, if the parent does not know the importance of reading together and is unaware of the benefits of early literacy, this book would never leave the shelf.\u00a0 Therefore, I believed that these handouts would accompany the newly gifted books perfectly.<\/p>\n Perhaps your library can be the next place that can utilize these handouts to help parents realize how easy it is to prepare their child to become a reader and the effect it has on them for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n *****************************************<\/p>\n Our guest blogger today is Angela Bronson. Angela has a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio. This is her ninth year working for the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library<\/a>, and is currently a Children’s Librarian at Kent Branch Library. In the past, she was a Preschool Art Teacher for Bowling Green State University. She illustrated her first picture book this year titled, “Alora in the Clouds<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Courtesy](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Angela-Bronson-150x150.jpg\")
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