Ohio’s parents and educators can access the brand-new INFOhio Early Learning Portal to help little learners ages 3-5 prepare for school and their futures.
Library Juice Academy is offering an online Early Childhood Literacy Certificate program for library staff at any level.
Whether you work directly with children in the library, or want to learn more about early literacy to help you better serve your community, this certificate program offers key information on child development and early literacy and activities to put it into practice in your own situations and environments. It is designed for staff in public and school libraries to add to your knowledge and as a means of recognition of knowledge in this area.
Ease the transition to school by helping parents and caregivers understand Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee (TGRG) and learn how to incorporate literacy skill-building into everyday life. Reading ‘Round the Clock encourages and equips caregivers to integrate fun, simple reading and literacy activities into daily routines at home, on the road, and around the community.
With over 100 sessions on all aspects of early childhood education, the Ohio Early Childhood Conference is a great opportunity for librarians to learn from experts in the field, and to network with early childhood professionals from around the state.
The State Library of Ohio is pleased to offer this special program, through which libraries have an opportunity to apply for LSTA grant funds to expand their collections to include more Ohio book award winners and Ohio authors, incorporate programming, and expand community engagement and awareness of the state’s rich literary offerings and award programs. Early literacy-related projects eligible for this grant may include:
New parent/caregiver tipsheets are available for Choose to Read Ohio (CTRO) 2017 & 2018 titles! CTRO is a reading initiative encouraging Ohioans to read and share books together and to 
discover Ohio's authors and illustrators.
Free parent/caregiver tipsheets are available for each CTRO featured picture book. Sized to tuck into the book or hand out at storytime, the tipsheets feature simple activities to engage young children in talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing.
Download and share these tipsheets, or write your own tipsheets for new picture books, books you share in storytime, or books that are popular with families at your library.
Ohio is home to hundreds of notable authors, past and present. Jacqueline Woodson, Denise Fleming, Will Hillenbrand, Loren Long, Oge Mora, Andrea Wang, Cynthia Rylant, Drew Daywalt, Adam Rex, Daniel Kirk, Angela Johnson, David Catrow, and Tim Bowers are among the many picture book authors and illustrators who live in Ohio or have Ohio roots.
Storytime 101: Storytime for Beginners is a 5-hour self-paced tutorial developed by the Idaho Commission for Libraries. This interactive course covers basic skills such as preparing for storytime, reading books out loud, using props and music, and engaging adults and children. It is free for anyone to take, but you must have (or create) a Niche Academy account before taking the course.
Are you thinking about offering kindergarten readiness programming at your library? Kindergarten Gear Up is designed to help both children and caregivers prepare for kindergarten. It is especially targeted towards families whose children have not attended preschool.
Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR), a national parent/caregiver outreach initiative, empowers public library workers to share early literacy knowledge with the caring adults in young children's lives. It was first rolled out in 2004, and is very familiar to children's services specialists. But what if you're a new children's librarian or specialist and you're hearing about ECRR for the first time? You've come to the right place!
