Research demonstrates that the first five years of a child’s life form the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Positive exposure to books and reading is essential to providing a child with the ability to learn when they enter school.

In every library branch, and throughout the community on the bookmobile, the library provides programs and materials that promote early literacy.

Libraries are committed to providing early literacy skills to children. Early literacy means providing a foundation to learn to read, not learning to read early. Early literacy programs are provided in every branch every week for ages birth through five. They are both fun for children and instructional for parents and caregivers. 

Tips on promoting early literacy are based on the following concepts, based on the American Library Association's Every Child Ready to Read program:
Vocabulary—fun ways to introduce the meaning of words into a child’s world
Narrative—being able to understand and respond to a story’s beginning, middle and end
Phonological Awareness—being able to hear individual sounds in a word
Letter Knowledge—knowing the names and sounds of letters
Print Awareness—understanding how letters and words function
Print Motivation—loving books and reading