Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

Early Childhood Education

County Library Rolls Out More Education Programs Around LA — In Some Cases, Literally

A woman in an olive green shirt with a navy blue baseball cap sits with her 20-month-old daughter on the ground of a the library.
Dina Morales and her 20-month-old-daughter sing hello during storytime at the South Gate branch of the L.A. County Library system.
(
Mariana Dale
/
LAist
)

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

Expanded education programs are coming to several branches of the L.A. County Library, from Compton to Lancaster.

Vans will bring storytime, robotics and 3D printing out of the library and into the community. Another program connects young learners to peer tutors.

The county is spending $1.43 million dollars in federal coronavirus relief money to implement or expand four programs based at a dozen L.A. County libraries.

Serving High Need Communities

“This project includes several target communities, including school-aged youth and neighborhoods that have been historically divested or under resourced,” said L.A. County Library Director Skye Patrick during an L.A. County Board of Supervisors July meeting.

Support for LAist comes from

The county categorizes communities as “high need” based on factors like income and rates of unemployment and overcrowded housing.

South Gate’s Leland R. Weaver Library is one of the libraries that will share the COVID-19 relief funding.

“A lot of things have changed for a lot of people in the past years,” said Weaver Children’s Librarian Stephanie Lien. “I just hope that we can still show people that the library is a community resource.”

Jasmin Salazar brought her 2-year-old Matthew to storytime here for the first time Wednesday. She said they spent much of the pandemic cooped up at home.

“It's kind of scary, but I mean, we have to start, you know, coming out of the cave,” Salazar said. “I want him to… get ready for school and honestly… just be used to other people than just me.”

Matthew started on his socially distanced mat, but was soon jumping and dancing with the five other kids as children’s librarian Stephanie Lien read aloud and led them in song.

Support for LAist comes from

“Sometimes it doesn't seem like they're learning, but for that age, it's like everything is,” Lien said. “They're absorbing it all using their whole bodies, their brains and everything.”

A 4-year-old girl in a pink shirt reads a picture book set atop a green striped couch.
Ivanna Hernandez pages through the book ¡Adiós, tristeza!
(
Mariana Dale
/
LAist
)

For mom Dina Morales, who came with her 4-year-old and 20-month-old daughters, storytime is also a chance to practice her own English.

“With the songs, with the books, I’m also learning and it helps my daughters,” Morales said.

Lien said families in the community often request homework help and resources to teach reading, but they are limited by time and money. The L.A. County Library system has long operated with a structural budget deficit. 

“It is exciting to know we have a little extra funding,” Lien said. “Maybe some of the programs that may have started small can maybe get bigger, or we can roll out new programs that can better sort of fit the needs of the community.”

Storytime On Wheels

One of the library programs targeted for expansion is the Reading Machine— a sort of library on wheels.

Support for LAist comes from

Three brightly colored vans shuttle librarians, books and other materials to preschools and home-based child care centers for storytimes like the ones you’d find at the library.

L.A. County Library Youth Services Administrator Heather Firchow said there’s also training for the providers “so they can better support the children …and feel more comfortable talking about early literacy.”

Providers can apply to participate in the program online.

The children also go home with handouts that outline how their parents and caregivers can start new conversations around books.

“It’s a habit you form,” Firchow said.“If you continue to have these interactions with your child, around books, and learning and reading, that's just going to set them up for success when they enter school.”

Where The L.A. County Library Is Expanding Education Programs

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist