brtb oregon 2008
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Babies and Books Beyond the Library:Marketing Early Literacy
Monday, October 15, 2008
8th Central Oregon Regional Library Conference
Redmond, Oregon
Why early literacy? “Reading to children is the single most effective strategy to get your child to go to school ready to learn.” - Susan B. NewmanProfessor of Educational Studies, University of Michigan
“Babies know important things about language literally from the time they are born, and they learn a great deal about language before they ever say a word.” - Gopnik, Meltzoff, & Kuhl, authors of The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind
“No one ever told me I should be reading to my baby. I consider myself an educated person, but I assumed I shouldn’t be reading to my baby until she was a year old.” - Brownsville parent, after a Brooklyn Reads to Babies event
Why early literacy?
By one estimate the typical middle-class
child enters first grade with 1,000 to 1,700
hours of one-on-one picture book reading,
whereas a child from a low-income family
averages just 25 hours.
Source: Every Child Ready to Read, Association for Library Service to Childrenhttp://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/ECRR/projecthistory/researchearlyliteracy/ResearchEarlyLit.htm
Why early literacy?
35% of children in the United States enter public schools with such low levels of the skills and motivation that they are at substantial risk for early academic difficulties. Source: 1991 Carnegie Foundation report, Ready to Learn, A Mandate for the Nation.
Why early literacy in Brooklyn?
All of Brooklyn’s residents are not literate, highly-educated orspeak/read English. Through Brooklyn’s demographics from the US Census 2000, we learned that the BRTB campaign was imperative because of the 2.5 million people in the borough:
• 40% were born outside of the United States.
• 31% (484,000) of those 25-years-old and older have not completed high school.
• 33% (825,000) have children under the age of 18 in their households.
• 25% (610,000) live in poverty (The National Assessment of Educational Progress has documented a correlation between the reading ability of children and the economic level of their parents).
Why early literacy?Early Literacy = Economic Development
Economists are beginning to identify child development investments as the most cost effective strategies for long-term economic development. In one study, researchers from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank identified investments in early education as yielding a financial return that far exceeds the return on most state funded economic development projects. - Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development, Urban Libraries Council, 2007. http://www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf
Why early literacy?Early Literacy = Economic Development
Researchers at the University of Chicago identify early education investmentsas more efficient public investments because their benefits tend to compound,by establishing a solid foundation for later human capital investments ineducation and job skills training. They found that the return on investmentdecreases as investments move from early literacy and child development, toyouth programs, to adult education and job training programs.
- Cunha and Heckman 2003; Currie 2001; Karoly, et al. 1998.
“Learning and motivation are dynamic, cumulative processes; skillbegets skill; learning begets learning. Early disadvantages lead toacademic and social difficulties later. Early advantages accumulate;just as early disadvantages do.”
- The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children, Working Paper 51, Committee for Economic Development, October 2004
Why early literacy?Early Literacy = Economic Development
BPL’s 3 Institutional Goals
1: More people will use the library in more
ways than ever before
2: BPL will make an even greater difference in the lives of children
3: BPL will be easier to do business with
Planning BPL’s Early Literacy Campaign
Our objectives were to: • Reach Brooklyn’s 2.5 million residents, including
caregivers of 50,000 children under age five living primarily in low-income, immigrant, and underserved neighborhoods with the following key messages: – Reading to babies can make a vital difference in their language
development.– Reading to babies can help prepare them for school. – Reading to babies provides a great opportunity for parent/child
bonding.
• Create an exciting campaign using visually appealing and ethnically diverse artwork.
• Make “Brooklyn Reads to Babies” synonymous with Brooklyn Public Library.
Planning BPL’s Early Literacy Campaign
Our goals were to:• Achieve 20 highly visible media placements• Drive a total of 600 attendees to BRTB launch
parties, including the “Brooklyn Reads to Babies Day” celebration at the Brooklyn
Children’s Museum • Increase our cumulative reach
throughout the campaign via
continued media placements
Planning BPL’s Early Literacy Campaign
Our strategy was:• An aggressive, multi-platform media campaign • Community awareness, partnerships, and
outreach• Integrated marketing collateral, advertising, and
in-library banners/posters/graphics• Website presence (
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/first5years/)
Funding
• Anonymous Gift
• Altman Foundation
• Astoria Federal Savings
• Target
In-Kind Support
• Scholastic
• Candlewick Press
• Handprint Books
• Blue Apple
• SNAPPLE & NYC Marketing
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesKey Partnership
READ TO ME Program & Susan Straub
www.readtomeprogram.org
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Brochures
English ArabicChinese Haitian Creole Russian Spanish
• Reading tips• Early Literacy milestones• Booklists• Multiple languages
Planning BRTB Launch Events
Location, location, location:– Ten branches were chosen with high 0-5
years population– Geographic distribution throughout the
borough:Arlington East FlatbushBorough Park MarcyClarendon SaratogaCrown Heights Sunset ParkCypress Hills Williamsburgh
Planning BRTB Launch Events
• Events modeled on Susan Straub’s
READ TO ME program. • Authors & illustrators
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Launch Party
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Launch Party
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Launch Events
• Launch party at the Central Library• 10 launch events at BPL branches• Full-day event at Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Central Library 300Arlington 30Cypress Hills 35Borough Park 80 Clarendon 20 East Flatbush 35Marcy 15 Crown Heights 45 Sunset Park 75Saratoga 45Williamsburgh 20Brooklyn Children’s Museum 900 museum
visitorsAttendance totals: 1600
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Branch Events &Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn Reads to Babies on BPL’s First Five Years Site
Brooklyn Reads to Babieshttp://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/first5years/
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesBrochures have been distributed through:
Brooklyn Children’s MuseumBrooklyn Kindergarten SocietyCaribbean’s Women’s Health AssociationChild Development Support CorporationConey Island HospitalDay Care CouncilNYC Early Intervention Program Excellence Baby AcademyParent Child Home Program of SCOReach Out and Read sitesNew York CaresNew York City Public SchoolsNYCELL ProgramNYC Dept. of Health Newborn Home Visit
programThe Read to Me ProgramHeart of Brooklyn Cultural PartnershipKings County Family Court
Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health CenterAmerica Reads/Counts at Pratt InstituteDove Pediatric ServiceCanarsie Early Intervention ProgramNew York Methodist Pediatric ClinicSt. Vincent’s ServicesKings County Hospital CenterEvelyn Douglin CenterLong Island College HospitalLiteracy, Inc.Park Slope Family- Health CenterSt. John Episcopal Hospital, PediatricsLola Cuffee Family Health CenterInterfaith Medical CenterVarious Child Care Centers throughout BrooklynGrocery storesBeauty parlors
Brooklyn Reads to Babiesin China
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesPress
• 49 press pieces in all.
• News segments on WABC, WNBC, NY1, FOX, and Brooklyn 12.
• Articles in Time Out NY Kids, School Library Journal, New York Daily News & several local newspapers.
• Articles in RIF, Caribbean Women’s Health Association, and NYCAEYC newsletters.
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesConstruction Wall Banner
Brooklyn Reads to Babies
80 bus shelter posters throughout Brooklyn
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Networking Breakfast
• An annual event for over 80 representatives from community agencies attend, such as public schools, child care providers, early intervention, children’s social services, interested parents and a variety of other early childhood agencies.
• BPL staff present an overview of our programs services and we also invite community partners to speak on their services.
• Feedback from participants:– “Congratulations and carry on with this great job. It’s always
good/great to reach out- etc!!!”– “[I learned about] the array of services I wasn’t completely aware
of—”– “Speakers were not long winded allowing the flow of the morning
to be smooth, interesting and comfortable in spite of the heat.”
Additional BRTB Activities
• Brooklyn Reads to Babies kits for newborns and their parents and an informational slide on their plasma screens at Coney Island Hospital.
• Brooklyn Reads to Babies kits for families at Safe Horizon Children’s Centers in three Brooklyn courthouses.
• Early literacy information distributed at homeless shelters, health fairs, street fairs, etc.
• Brooklyn Reads to Babies early literacy kits and workshops distributed through the Brooklyn Young Mother’s Collective, an advocacy group for teen mothers.
Outreach at Babies “R” Us
Online Video of “Reading with Babies”
at BPL and Hennepin County Library
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesBudget
Items Cost
Giveaways (tote bags, sippy cups, bibs, etc. ) $ 14,265.00
Giveaways (in-kind) $ 6,650.00
Food (Kick-off events, networking breakfasts) $ 5,000.00
BRTB Stationery & Invitations $ 4,000.00
First Five Years Postcard $ 5,260.00
First Five Years Brochures $ 6,065.00
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Brochures & translations $ 59,040.00
Banner $ 1,565.00
Book scans $ 3,575.00
Printing bus shelter posters $ 10,000.00
Honoraria (for authors & illustrators) $ 2,000.00
Ad placements ($500 per ad x 4 ads) $ 2,000.00
Total $ 119,420.00
In-kind Support
Bus Shelter Space $ 160,000.00
Donations from publishers (not including use of art) $ 5,000.00
In-kind total $ 165,000.00
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesEvaluation
We evaluated the success of the BRTB campaign on:
• Number and types of media placements• Size of launch party audience• Increase in library card sign ups for children younger
than five years old.• Website visits• Number of Brooklyn Reads to Babies brochures
distributed. • Number attendees of our BRTB-related programs,
like “Babies and Books.” • Positive Feedback from the community
Brooklyn Reads to Babies Evaluation Results
• PR campaign reached 10,196,225 people via 49 pieces including TV, newspapers, magazines
• Launch party at the Central Library drew 300 attendees• Page views on the First Five Years website, launched at
the start of the BRTB campaign, average over 7,000 a month.
• 800,000 Brooklyn Reads to Babies brochures distributed
in 6 languages.
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesEvaluation Results
Increase in First Five Years programming and program attendance.
• Number of “Babies and Books” programs increased 33%• Babies & Books program attendance increased 93%• FirstRIF, our book give-away program aimed at babies &
toddlers and their parents/caretakers averaged 2,467 people per month prior to the BRTB campaign, and jumped to 4,786 afterwards – an increase of almost 100%!
• Our Summer Reading registration for young children increased by 42%.
Almost all participants in Brooklyn Reads to Babies events registered for library cards.
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesAnecdotal Results
• During a library program, a mother commented that she sees BRTB brochures “EVERYWHERE!” The brochures have been spotted in hair salons, grocery stores, doctors’ offices, child care centers, family court, and various other community agencies.
• While BPL librarians were speaking about the importance of reading with at a Caribbean Women's Health Association event, one mother said she did not know that she should read to her baby. After receiving a board book and a Brooklyn Reads to Babies brochure from BPL staff, she announced that she would begin reading to her baby that night.
• BPL librarians have also reported new parents bringing their children to Books and Babies programs. One parent said to a librarian, “I wish you had this when I was a kid!”
• BPL has developed a reputation for having quality preschool programs and initiatives.
The aftermath…
More money & support…• Grant from The New York State Permanent
Judicial Commission for Children to work with Safe Horizon
• Altman Foundation grant renewal for four years running.
• Additional funds from Astoria Federal Saving• In-kind support from Harcourt for other initiatives• Presentations at Bank Street
Infancy Institute & ALA
Brooklyn Reads to BabiesAwards
• Non-Profit PR Award finalist for Best Public Service Campaign
• Winner of the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award:
“Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn, N.Y., for ‘Brooklyn Reads to Babies.’ This model early literacy program, with appealing multilingual materials, had the ambitious goal of reaching every family in Brooklyn. Combining research, outreach through more than 30 strategic partners, and creative use of appropriate communication tools, led to a tremendously successful PR campaign with measurable results.”
Lessons Learned…
• Give yourself plenty of time.
• Translations need to be reviewed by library staff members who speak the language.
• Be attentive to the needs of parents who or are not literate or who have low literacy skills.
• Have a clear evaluation strategy in place.
Additional ideas…• Create an early literacy poster for
agencies to display (a PDF for printing on legal paper or full-size poster to be distributed).
• Utilize the Brooklyn Reads to Babies
plastic bag system-wide.
• Posting the Brooklyn Reads to Babies message on Bank ATM screens.
• Radio PSAs
• Posting information to local parent blogs and message boards.
• Acquire a media partner.
The New York Public Library’s ABC Read to Me Kit
BPL’s Early Literacy placemat
English side
BPL’s Early Literacy placemat
Spanish side
BPL’s Rhyme Booklet
Baby safe Summer Reading registration incentive
Rhymes in English & Spanish
Many Thanks!
Many thanks to Brooklyn Public Library staff members who worked so hard on this campaign.
Brooklyn Reads to Babies, a project of BPL's First Five Years initiative, is supported with additional funding by Astoria Federal Savings and Target.
Illustrations © copyright 2001 by Marla Frazee from EVERYWHERE BABIES by Susan Meyers. Reproduced by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
Special thanks to Susan Straub of READ TO ME and Reach Out and Read of Greater New York.
Contact Information
Rachel PayneCoordinator of Preschool Services
Neighborhood ServicesBrooklyn Public Library
Grand Army PlazaBrooklyn, NY 11238Tel: 718.230.2233Fax: 718.230.2784
[email protected]: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/first5years/