Information on Creating a Language-Rich Library Environment

April 21, 2011, 11:00 a.m - 1:30 p.m MST, 10:00 a.m - 11:30 a.m. PST

ICfL’s Read to Me program is pleased to support this upcoming webinar featuring our friend and long-time presenter Saroj Ghoting. The material presented builds on information shared at recent Read to Me meetings and we’re able to pay for up to 20 library staff members to attend.

You will be required to complete an evaluation in return for ICfL paying the $50 fee. If you don’t want to complete the evaluation, you can register directly with ALA.

ICfL’s objectives are:

• Participants will increase their knowledge of language-rich environments
• Participants will learn two new ways to share early literacy information with parents/caregivers
• Participants will try at lease one new thing that promotes early literacy in their library environment.

If you have any questions about the webinar, please contact Stephanie Bailey-White at ICfL, 208-639-4145 or Stephanie.bailey-white@libraries.idaho.gov . Once we send the registration information in, you’ll receive information on how to log in and get a password.

Supporting Early Literacy through Language-Rich Library Environments (ALA Editions Workshop)
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. MST, 10 a.m. – 11:30 PST

In this interactive workshop, Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting will provide a wealth of ideas for creating a language rich learning environment in the library. Using examples from libraries around the country that range from simple posters to creating learning space, she will demonstrate how simple, affordable changes can maximize the library’s ability to foster early literacy. Participants will have the opportunity for hands-on learning and interaction with one of the leaders in early childhood literacy.

Topics Covered Include:

• What is a language rich environment and why have one in the library
• Early literacy skills and how they apply to environments
• Aspects of language rich environments: physical, affective, content
• Characteristics of language rich environments
• Importance of play
• Ways to incorporate messages to parents/caregivers
• Language rich environments in libraries around the country:  different models

About the Instructor

A children's librarian for more than 30 years, Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting is now an early Childhood Literacy Consultant. She is the coauthor of the best-selling Early Literacy Storytimes @ your library (2005) and The Early Literacy Kit (2009), and she works as one of the trainers for the Every Child Ready to Read @ your library program, an early literacy initiative co-sponsored by the Public Library Association (PLA) and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). She received her BA from Oberlin College (OH) and her MLS from Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C.