Public libraries are increasingly taking their extensive services into the communities that they serve. Toronto Public Library launched the Storybook Parents Program to help connect incarcerated and recently released men and women with their children. The Storybook Parents Program is a family literacy initiative that works with participants to record storybooks for their children. By participating in the program, participants are able to model reading even while they are separated from their children. In addition, this activity helps to foster, nurture and maintain the relationship between the participants and their children.
This session will share information about the program and how it has evolved over the last few years, highlighting our successes and challenges, lessons learned, and next steps for expansion. It will also highlight the importance of working with marginalized, often stigmatized, hard-to-reach populations, as well as illustrate the positive effects that have resulted from the program.
Outcomes:
– New and innovative ways to take services outside of the physical library space.
– Understand the importance of embedded librarianship.
