Smartest Card in Your Wallet Helps Make Your Kids Smarter Too

| September 9, 2013

The American Library Association can list 60 ways you can use your library card. Check our website for the full list (fppld.org), to see if you are getting the most out of your library.   This month the Franklin Park library is encouraging parents to make sure each child has a library card.  Librarians are visiting schools during Parent/Teacher orientations to introduce library programs and sign up new members.  In addition, the Circulation Department is holding a series of weekly raffles to encourage the use of your card.

Frequently we hear parents boast that their child has a card only to hear them admit that their own card “expired a long time ago”; as though the library has no relevance in their life – other than to be there for their children.

Here is what this librarian has to say about that.   Studies of school achievement support the belief that frequent reading is a key indicator of success.  Studies of frequent readers find that:

  • their homes expose them to books and other reading materials,
  • they are read to from an early age,
  • they grow up watching their parents and care givers reading,
  • they frequently hear and take part in conversations which name and describe the things around them.

If parents want the library to support their child’s achievement, they have a role to play.

They should read to the child from birth, perhaps even before.

They should borrow materials from the library to enrich the home environment.

They should talk about the books and stories they share; and finally, they need to model the role of reader so their children see that they value and enjoy reading as an important part of their life.

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Category: Open Forum, Opinions

About the Author ()

Adult Services Librarian at the Franklin Park Public Library.

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