Two-year-old Sophia Lunar loves Peppa Pig and Cookie Monster.
She doesn’t just see the characters on children’s television shows but enjoys them in books her mom reads to her.
Sophia is a part of the Oak Lawn Public Library’s 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, a nationwide effort to encourage parents and caregivers to read to young children. Her mom, Maria Lunar, said her daughter has become much more enthusiastic about books and focused now on them than when she first started reading to her.
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“She gets so into the books,” Lunar said. “She sits for hours and we read together. It’s a very good program.”
More than 800 libraries in Illinois, including many Southland ones, are a part of the initiative, which is in 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada.
Children can participate in the program from birth until their first day of kindergarten with their parents or caregivers. Each library creates its own incentives, with most awarding stickers for each 100 books read and prizes after children complete 1,000, including free books and medals.
The nonprofit 1,000 Books Foundation was founded in Nevada in early 2013. The Orland Park Public Library was among the first in the area to join the program later that year, preschool services coordinator Stephanie Thomas said. Their first finisher was born in 2013, and completed 1,000 books as an infant with an adult, library staff said.
“The kids get really excited,” Thomas said. “We always try to make a big deal out of it.”
The Oak Lawn library is new to the program.
Mary Donovan, a youth services librarian at the Oak Lawn library, said the institution joined the effort this past spring. She said the program is another way to help children learn “language” at an early age.
“[The program] is easy to administer, easy to participate in and hugely beneficial,” Donovan said. “Research has shown that the more words children hear before kindergarten, the more ready they will be to start school.”
Tinley Park Public Library, where nearly 400 families are currently registered for the program, launched the initiative in the fall of 2014, youth services assistant Yvette Curtis said.
Curtis said she has seen a positive response from families participating in the program.
“We’ve seen consistent interest from patrons,” Curtis said. “We hope to see continued involvement going forward.”
One such patron, Leah Herman, signed her son Cody up as soon as the program started back in 2014. She said they have well surpassed the 1,000 books threshold, and as Cody, now 5, prepares to start kindergarten in the fall, she has seen what a difference reading has made.
“We read all the time. They won’t go to bed sometimes because they want to read more books,” Herman said of Cody and his 2-year-old brother Parker, who also is registered. “I think it’s a wonderful program.”
Elizabeth Tiffy said she first heard about the program attending storytime at the library, and signed her now 4-year-old daughter Blythe up when she was about 18 months old.
“She definitely will get excited about marking the books down in the log,” Tiffy said. “It’s so important to be able to read for enjoyment.”
At many area libraries, participants don’t have to be library members to participate. The program is designed to appeal to all families with young children.
Jessica Rodrigues, head of youth services at the Steger-South Chicago Heights Library, said multilingual families can read books in different languages to their children.
“It’s important to read to your child in any and all languages,” Rodrigues said. “Sometimes Spanish-speaking moms only want to talk in English, but we encourage them to read in Spanish too.”
Diane Foote, executive director of the Illinois Library Association, said families should read to children as early as possible.
“Early literacy is the cornerstone of everything,” Foote said. “Just like how saving up your money from an early age can help your savings grow, you can make your literacy grow with early reading.”
The program also can lead to success in school, said Kathy James, youth services assistant at the Crete Public Library.
“Every book you read to a child before kindergarten is going to benefit them,” James said. “Those children are far ahead of the ones that haven’t read as much.”
ILA President Cynthia Fuerst added that children’s early development goes beyond just literacy and encompasses a whole range of learning and libraries are essential to that process.
“Libraries work hard to position themselves as resource leaders for early learning in their communities,” Fuerst said in a statement. “Librarians spend time engaging parents — explaining the ‘whys’ and the research behind what we are doing during programming for preschoolers.”
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As libraries have an increasing number of graduates of the program, many library officials said they hope to keep children excited about reading.
Anna Pauls, the Flossmoor Public Library youth services manager, said she hopes to make sure the program continues to encourage families to read together.
“Promoting the program is definitely a goal of mine,” Pauls said. “There’s so much joy and knowledge to be gained from reading.”
