At the beginning of 2023, my library director informed me of a grant from the library system. This grant will help us with creating early literacy kits. There were two kinds of grants available: competitive and noncompetitive grants. Initially, I applied for the competitive grant but did not get it. Still, our library system assistant director encouraged me to apply for the non-competitive grant. After applying for the non-competitive grant, I was awarded $2,500 to build early literacy kits for my library.
Step 1: Research & Purchasing
When you start any project, the first thing you always do is research. For our early literacy kits, I examined other kits in our library system. I decided to create an amalgamation of those kits into one unique to our library. The contents of our kits are akin to kits built by one of the most extensive libraries in our system. Their kits served as the main guide for our own.
Finally, I settled on having the next in my kits:
- 2 picture books
- A theme-related toy
- An early literacy binder that includes early literacy tips and activities
The next step of my research was fun. I got to go shopping!
First, I decided on the themes for my kits. Then, I found books and toys that matched those themes. Finally, I had to find something to carry our kits in. For example, in my alphabet kit, I have included the next:
- Melissa and Doug ABC Picture Boards
- Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
- Early Literacy Binder
- 12”x12” Scrapbook Container with Handle
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After my research, I created eighteen kits using our grant money. Some of my themes included the alphabet, Paw Patrol, and doctors. I then sent my Amazon cart to my director, who purchased the needed items.
Step 2: Building the Kits
The next part of the process is building the kits for cataloging and usage.
The first part of this process was receiving and organizing our kit purchases. Once that was done, I had to label each piece of the kit with our library’s initials. I included even the tiniest parts. This included magnets the size of your little fingernail. Labeling everything took a lot of time. It was difficult to manage in my busy schedule.
After organizing and labeling the kit contents, I had to create the contents of the literacy kit binders. In the binders, I included:
- A kit contents sheet with replacement costs of items in the kit
- The rules that apply to kit checkout
- Information about Every Child Ready to Read and the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards
- Two early literacy activities to extend learning beyond what is in the kit
Click the links below to see the contents of one of my binders:
I found the early literacy activities for my binder by consulting my best resource. Every librarian and teacher’s best friend is Pinterest! I have been using Pinterest for years, both while I was teaching and also while I was a children’s librarian. There are so many good ideas from teachers and librarians just like us.
I created a Pinterest board containing all the early literacy activities I wanted to include. When I adapted these activities, I also ensured that I cited where they had come from.
This was another time-consuming process, but it was worth the time. It took me over a month to finish the binder contents for each kit. I started creating and finally finished them during this period. When that part of the kit was done, I finally wholly assembled the kits.
Step 3: Cataloging and Processing
This part of the process includes involvement from others in your organization. In my library, I collaborated with our head cataloger. Together with the circulation supervisor, we developed the best plan for cataloging. We also established circulation rules for our new kits. Thankfully, this wasn’t entirely new because we had started circulating STEM Kits at our library the prior year.
We took the circulation rules that apply to the STEM kits. Then, we applied them to our early literacy kits. Those rules are as follows:
- Only one kit per family per visit
- Kits check out for 3 weeks with no renewals
- Kits must be returned to the circulation desk at (insert your library’s name here)
- Kits must have all pieces as listed on the content sheet in the kit
- Please allow up to 48 hours (about two days) for the kits to be checked before they will be checked in
- Patrons will be charged for lost/damaged items in the kit
The nice thing about these rules is they can quickly adapt to your needs.
We discussed this with my cataloger and circulation supervisor. Then, we were ready to catalog and process the kits. This allowed them to be circulated.
It took about three months to buy the materials and process the kits. Our kits started circulating in January 2024. Since then, they have been extremely popular. At any given time in my library, at least half our kits are checked out. Most of our kits have circulated at least five to ten times in the last ten months!
Step 4: Kit Update as of November 2024
As I stated above, our kits have been very popular among our patrons. That being said, there have been some hiccups. I have had to wait for patrons to bring back missing pieces from the kits. I adjusted the amount of some pieces in our kits. Some items just can’t be found. I also charged patrons fines due to broken items in kits.
Most people have been very understanding about why they are being charged. They are also very willing to pay for the missing item or damaged item. I have gotten fortunate in that aspect. Still, I know that someday I will meet a patron. They will insist that a piece wasn’t in the kit when they checked it out. I will have to be firm about charging them for the missing item. It is not something I like to do. These kits cost a significant amount of money to create and keep. If one of the kits is missing a big part of it, I can’t circulate it.
Conclusion
As much work as this project was, I am so happy with how my kits turned out. If you would like to build your early literacy kits, do plenty of research about the other available kits. You can buy your already made or create your kit as I did. How you bring early literacy kits to your children in your library doesn’t matter if you promote literacy for all. Good luck with your kits, and if you have any questions, please contact me. I will be happy to help in any way I can.
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