Site of the Month: Montgomery County (MD) Library—Parents and Caregivers

www.mont.lib.md.us/kidsite/parentsandcaregivers.asp

For the last two years, Maryland's public libraries have been heavily involved in a homegrown literacy program called Never Too Early (see "It's Never Too Early ," p. 38–42). As part of the project, Saroj Ghoting of the Montgomery County Public Libraries has launched a section of her library's "Kidsite" to help parents, caregivers, and the local agencies that support them. But the resources on this site are useful for anyone working with young children.

An Enthusiastic Advocate: Ghoting (ghotis@mont.lib.md.us), the library's early childhood services coordinator, is an enthusiastic advocate for reading, talking, and singing to young children. The "Parents and Caregivers" portion of the site helps introduce families to library programs early in a child's life—from birth. As an early literacy specialist, Ghoting's goal was to find stimulating activities for the families she worked with. "Many of them feel quite isolated," she says. She uses the Web site to find storytimes for infants, and she recommends the closest library for her clients."

Help for the Overwhelmed: The site includes pages adapted from the "Parent's Guide to Emergent Literacy," which was created by a Public Library Association task force. Ghoting makes sure, through phone conversations, programs, and e-mails, that professionals she comes into contact with know they're available on the site. A first-year kindergarten teacher e-mailed Ghoting to say she was in desperate need of advice about how to work with five- and six-year-olds. Ghoting referred her to the PLA Web pages and the other preliteracy materials, and with their help, the teacher "has seen the children, who come from low-income families, make great strides this year."

Promoted in Person: Ghoting feels she needs to promote the Web page in person because most parents and caregivers of young children don't spend much time online. The site appears to work better as a resource for professionals searching for the right information, and who will pass it along to families in need.