Community Organizations Help
Deliver Family Literacy Services
One of the most difficult groups to reach with early literacy services is families whose young children are not in child care outside the home. In addition to the information and downloadable resources provided In the Families section of this website, MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS partners with a number of community organizations, social service agencies, and health clinics to deliver early literacy resources directly to families. These programs not only provide resources but also educate parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children and the tremendous impact families can have by incorporating early literacy experiences in daily life.
Tucson and southern Arizona agencies interested in providing these resources for families may call (520) 721-2334 for further information.
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Services and Programs
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MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS for Babies
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Program Partners
- Arizona Center for the Study of Children and Families
- Marana Unified School District Parents as Teachers
- Pima County Health Department/Public Health Nurses
- The Parent Connection
- Parent Aid Child Abuse Prevention Center
- Sunnyside Parents as Teachers
- Child & Family Resources/Healthy Families
- Amphitheater Parents as Teachers
- Easter Seals Blake Foundation
- Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services
- Grand Canyon University
- Pima Kids Connection
- Amado Even Start Family Literacy Program
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Because baby’s first year is critical to early literacy development, MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS provides early literacy workshops and Early Literacy Kits (Baby Bags) for in-home support personnel. The workshops focus on how to help parents be their baby’s first and best teacher. Topics include: the importance of reading aloud to babies, early brain development, developmentally appropriate book selection, how to read aloud to a baby, and suggestions for using the early literacy kits with families.
Each Baby Bag contains an English or Spanish board book, a bilingual “Read to Me” bib, an English or Spanish full-color calendar with simple monthly tips on fostering language and early literacy development, a bilingual nursery rhyme and songs CD, and other resources.
If your agency is interested in providing the MWFB for Babies program, please fill out the online application, and MWFB will contact you, or call (520) 721-2334 for further information.
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Book M-A-G-I-C (Making A Giant Impact on Children)
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M-A-G-I-C Kit Contents
The bilingual M-A-G-I-C Kit contains:
- A parent educator manual (for the parent educator)
- Tips and tricks for sharing books at storytime
- 12 parent information sheets with details about early literacy developmental stages
- 21 high-quality cloth, board, and hard-cover children’s books
- Reading-readiness activities to accompany the books
- Take-home books for each family
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This bilingual program empowers parents to be their children’s best teachers by providing opportunities to share developmentally appropriate books and do fun and engaging early literacy activities with their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS partners with The Parent Connection’s Stay and Play groups as well as Sunnyside Parents as Teachers and other organizations to deliver Book M-A-G-I-C resources. MWFB teaches parent educators how to implement the program. Then leaders share the information and materials with parents during early literacy playtimes. The fun begins when families delve into the Book M-A-G-I-C kits. Each bilingual kit has all the information parents need to effectively promote early literacy in children birth to age 5.
Books in the M-A-G-I-C book bundle have been carefully chosen to be used with activities that target specific Arizona Standards for Early Literacy: book handling, print awareness, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary development, and comprehension. The monthly guides and activities are broken down to address the developmental levels of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. All of the activities use materials commonly kept in the home so parents can easily do the suggested activities with their children.
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Blue Book Houses
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MWFB partners with the Pima County Public Library to place bookshelves, shaped like houses, with gently-used books in waiting areas of a few dozen social service agencies and health-care centers and to keep them stocked. Parents are encouraged to read aloud to their children while they wait, then take home a book to keep. Many families who visit these agencies do not have developmentally appropriate books at home, and these books help them establish their children’s own libraries. The Blue Books Houses also contain information about the importance of reading aloud regularly to young children and simple tips for parents.
If you would like to maintain a Blue Book House at your agency, please fill out the Agency Application, and MWFB will contact you.
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MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS Family Literacy Services are provided for free, depending on funding from grants and individual donations. Materials alone for the Early Literacy Baby Bags are valued at $30. Materials for the Book M-A-G-I-C Kits cost $350. Please consider making a contribution today of any amount to help MWFB continue to provide Family Literacy Services, assess community needs, and develop new early literacy resources for families.
Make Way For Books is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. As such, all gifts are tax-deductible, as allowed by law.
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Commitment to a common cause is one of the most cited reasons for successful public-nonprofit collaboration. The Pima County Public Library - MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS partnership is no exception. The two make a great match.
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