In suburban Buffalo, a couple desperately wanted a child. They went to their neighborhood library and used reference materials and the Internet to find information that enabled them to successfully adopt a baby. Young mothers in Tampa Bay Florida learn about the importance of reading to children even before their babies are born. Born to Read incorporates parent education about the importance of literacy development and book sharing with infants and toddlers into prenatal health care and pediatric care. Teens in Antioch Illinois were suddenly coming to the library in greater numbers than ever before.
New technology provides a welcome gateway to information that is very attractive to the young.
To help librarians meet the demands of their new patrons, the state provides training to youth librarians with a special technology emphasis. I believe that there is a critical federal role in supporting the public s ability to easily access information and making library services easily and widely available is at the core of our mission at the Institute. With their help and with the generous cooperation of the Department of Education we can celebrate a seamless transition to the new agency. Guidelines for the five-year state plans, which must be submitted prior to allocation of state awards were drafted and cleared in record time. Further, we have taken up the charge of finding the most effective way to provide results-based evaluation for the State program.