CNS - The parents of young children who need help getting their youngsters interested in reading now can participate in workshops offered by the Los Angeles Public Library, city officials announced.

“Read to Me L.A.” is a series of four workshops for parents and preschool-age children at the Central Library in downtown and the city’s 71 branch libraries.

The goal of the program is to familiarize children with reading before they start kindergarten and remind parents of the importance of reading to kids for at least 20 minutes a day, said Ilene Abramson, director of Children Services for the library.

Librarians teach parents how to read to their children and get them interested in books by using print motivation, awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, print awareness and letter knowledge.

The Los Angeles County Health Survey found that less than 50 percent of children ages five and younger are read to at home.

“Read to Me L.A.” is the first leg of our race toward improved literacy rates and reading scores and we cannot stop until our students reach the finish line of academic excellence,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “This represents a renewed effort to infuse our education system with city resources and raise student achievement rates over the long term.”

The program is partially funded by two $100,000 donations from the Target Corporation and the RGK Foundation.

In addition to the children’s program, the mayor and City Librarian Fontayne Holmes opened the city’s 18th Adult Literacy Center at the Echo Park branch library Oct. 24.

For more information on the “Read to Me L.A.” workshops, parents can log onto www.lapl.org or contact their local branch library.

Published in : Family, Education