At the beginning of the school year for 2009-2010 the first library night was in September, and the book Amy chose was If You Give a Mause a Cookie (1985}, accompanied by a mouse puppet craft. As families arrived, parents’ names were entered into the circulation system so they could check out books Tiffany Engine-turned money clip the school year. For this initial library night, 78 families were present- meaning 300 people came. When families attend, many of them bring all the children in the family plus aunts^ uncles, and grandparents. Later in the year, 25 to 75 families come to the monthly events. For Amy’s school, library nights are truly family affairs. The cost for supplies is minimal, but if funding is needed, Amy uses money from her activity fund. In her view, there are important benefits of library nights to students, parents, and the school:

* Children see parents at their schooL

* Children see reading is important to their parents.

* Parents have access to books and other materials.

* School personnel get to know families better and get to meet families through positive interaction.

Amy’s goal is for children to Tiffany 1837 bookmark readers, and her fun, casual library nights help build a foundation for accomplishing her goal. For more information about Alief Independent School District, visit www. alief.

Gina Fiaschetti is a first-year teacherlibrarian at Norma Garcia-Leza EC/PK Center in Aldine Independent School District, a large inner city district of Houston, Texas. The school opened in the fall 2009 and has a population of 547 students, including 84.7% Hispanic, 13.7% African American, 1.3% Caucasian, and .18% Asian. The disr trict is a Title I district with 84.4% economically disadvantaged students. This EC/ PK Center also receives funding from an Early Start grant providing the center with an additional $10,000 to purchase books. The center is also the recipient of a Title III grant to educate bilingual students and parents. Because this is a new school, only one family literacy night has taken place during the fall 2009 semester although more may be planned for spring 2010.

For the center’s first program the Children’s Museum of Houston was engaged for a morning session to which parents were invited. A similar program was held in the late afternoon and early evening from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for families to attend. About 250 parents, children, and other family members attended the evening session. Using picture books, Gina and the teachers demonstrated reading aloud and how to share books with young children. They used Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar (2007), Laura Nuraeroffs If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Tomie dePaolo’s The Art Lesson (1997). Families were divided into two groups for the readaloud session, either in Spanish or in English. After the read-aloud session, parents and children went to the school cafeteria where they rotated among four stations of activities: making a musical instrument, studying the life cycle of a butterfly, using hair gel to spell a child’s name, and cutting up cereal boxes to make puzzles. The idea of the four Return to Tiffany Cuff links was two-fold: first, to encourage parents and children to work together on a literacy task; and second, to experience activities that could be duplicated in the home with simple, easily available materials. Simple refreshments of cookies and juice completed the program.

In addition to literacy nights, parents are invited to the library every Friday to check out books. Gina and the teachers are planning to offer Breakfast with Clifford on a Saturday morning in the spring semester to provide another opportunity for parents to cheek out books. She expects that in the future the school will offer mpre literacy nights and more programs to entice parents to participate in their children’s reading. I asked Gina what impressed her the most after hosting her first literacy night. She said, “It brought families together, both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking, to help their children for a common cause, and all families worked well together.” For more information about Aldine Independent School District, visit www.aldine. kl2.tx.us.

In all three examples of family literacy nights, school district administrators play vital roles. Superintendents and principals inspired and supported teacher-librarians by including family literacy nights in their action plans and in funding opportunities, either locally or nationally. Administrators participated by reading aloud, by approving additional hours for the library to be open, and by providing added security during the events. Family literacy nights in these three Schools are advertised through administration-approved bilingual flyers delivered by children to their families, by school signage, and through district web sites. Without the support of administrators family literacy nights in school libraries would not be possible.

By the nature of their work teacher-librarians provide daily activities and manage resources to improve literacy among their student population. They add to the accessibility of the facility by extending library hours after school, in the evenings, and during summers. In some libraries parents may also check out books and use available computers. Two specific outreach programs can aid parents in developing their children’s literacy: Book Clubs and Literacy Bags. Book Clubs that involve parents are not new, but bilingual book clubs offer à life-line to parents who want to participate in their children’s education. Rene Saldana’s excellent article, “The Bilingual Book Club: A Family Affair” (20Ô9), will inspire teacher-librarians Elsa Peretti Eternal Circle cuff links provide them with advice about how to set up a bilingual book club. Literacy Bags have the advantage of ready-made activities for children to take home. No matter what type Of bag â teacher-librarian uses, the goal is to improve reading skills in young children. Taking bags into the home encourages children and parents to interact with books in meaningful ways. Maurine V. Richardson, et al, share a variety of bag formats and strategies in their article, “Literacy Bags to Encourage Family Involvement” (2008).

IN SUMMARY

Several messages are clear from reviewing family literacy components and from speaking with teacher-librarians who participate in family literacy nights. Family literacy programs in the United States have grown more comprehensive and inclusive at local, state, and national levels in recent years (Darling, 2004). Family literacy, especially bilingual programs for economically disadvantaged families, is the focus of many funding opportunities as shown by the Prime Time program for Hispanic families in Georgia. Teacher-librarians Amy, Mary, and Gina, as well as other school personnel are investing their time, effort, and enthusiasm in helping parents to become involved in their children’s literacy learning. These teacher-librarians are gratefully observing benefits to families as parents become comfortable in a school setting.