Page 418 - FY 2009 Proposed Budget

Support Youth and Families

Goal 1: Partner with Local Organizations to Educate and Mentor
Objective 1: Strengthen Education and Enrichment Programs
Project Performance Measure(s) City Service Team (Department)
SYF Early Literacy Focus  Increase circulation of early literacy Neighborhood Services (Library)
1.1.2 materials
 Increase program attendance of early
literacy programs
Summary:

The Arlington Public Library offers targeted programs, Increase Circulation of Early Literacy
library materials, and educational and fun Materials
environments that support families as they introduce 120,000
their children to early literacy. This age group begins at
birth and goes up to when a child enters Pre‐K. Early 100,000
literacy is not just about reading; it is the natural
80,000
development of skills through the enjoyment of books
and the enriched experiences provided through Library 60,000
programming that include reading, song and creativity, 40,000
physical play environments, and even social interaction
20,000
with other children. The goal is to inform parents and
others about the importance of early literacy and to ‐
provide them with resources they need to develop skills 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
in their children to prepare them as they enter
Kindergarten and beyond. FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Update:
Library visitors checked out 50,097 early literacy books, Increase Attendance of Early Literacy
351 "1000 Books Before Kindergarten" backpacks, and Programs
th
226 "Read It Again" kits. Until the beginning of the 4
quarter kits and backpacks were not available for check 8,000
out due to the size of both the backpacks and the kits.
These items were too large to be returned through a 6,000
th
book drop. By the end of the 4 quarter, access to the
kits and backpacks are fully restored with the reopening 4,000
of the Downtown Library on October 1, 2029. In total,
292,002 earlier literacy books were checkout along with
5,716 RIA kits and 5,334 backpacks even with a full 2,000
quarter of no access.
‐
These measures are down significantly due to the 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
COVID‐19 closures. Library staff continued to provide
virtual programs through Facebook Live daily to help FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020
parents continue to support their children's education,
th
even with school and daycare closures. In the 4 *We are unable to provide actual program attendance
quarter, 58 virtual storytimes posts resulted in 7,456
engagements. This metric is an indicator that a user has
clicked or interacted with the post.

67