Santa Monica Library Promotes Early Literacy with To-Go Backpack Kits

Reading-2-Go Kits themed backpacks inside the Santa Monica Public Library main branch. Santa Monica, Calif. Monday April 5, 2021 (Jorge Devotto | The Corsair)

As families continue to care for infants and toddlers with limited learning options in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, they can turn to a recently-revamped Reading-2-Go kits collection of themed backpacks offered by the Santa Monica Library that promote early literacy and kindergarten readiness in children ages 1-5.

The Reading-2-Go kits are available to Santa Monica Library cardholders for a standard four-week rental and through contactless curbside pick-up at the Main Library, the Montana Avenue Branch, and the Pico Branch.

The kits include five books, a CD, DVD, or toy, and are offered in English, Spanish, or Amharic. Music and art, gardening, language development, feelings, community activism, personal hygiene, getting dressed, and dinosaurs are among the topics that form part of the circulating collection.

Librarian Jennifer Boyce works attending the pick up orders in the background. Reading-2-Go backpacks on display at the pick up area at the Santa Monica Public Library main branch. Santa Monica, Calif. Monday April 5, 2021 (Jorge Devotto | The Corsair)

“We really pulled from staff expertise to develop the themes; we have a parenting collection at the Main Library so we’re already familiar with general parenting topics,” said Jennifer Boyce, a librarian at Santa Monica Library. “In addition, pre-COVID, when families would come to the library to request things, we had a sense of what’s popular and what kids are asking for.”

According to Boyce, the idea behind the Reading-2-Go kits predates the pandemic and began as an effort to address some of the 2014 Youth Wellbeing Report Card findings published by the Santa Monica Cradle to Career (SMC2C), a local collective impact initiative dedicated to developing services that help kids from cradle to career.

The 2014 report card indicated 16% of children entering kindergarten were “vulnerable” or “at-risk” when it came to learning and school achievement. A more recent 2016-2017 report card indicated only 38% of children in the local community were entering kindergarten “very ready in communication skills and general knowledge."

Boyce also explained that the program was guided by the findings of First 5 LA, an organization dedicated to ensuring LA County kids enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life. First 5 LA’s mission states: “The first five years are a critical time period in a child’s development. It’s when 90% of a child’s brain develops, laying the foundation for the social, emotional, and learning patterns that impact their future.”

When Reading-2-Go began in July 2015, parents participated in bi-monthly kit exchanges and met with librarians to discuss literacy techniques. Yet, due to limited staff capacity, the library revamped the program to reach a wider audience.

Librarian Jennifer Boyce shows the Fletchers, Noelle, Quinn(5), and Chalie(3) the Reading-2-Go Kits themed backpacks at the pick up area at the Santa Monica Public Library main branch. Santa Monica, Calif. Monday April 5, 2021 (Jorge Devotto | The Corsair)

Now with the rise of curbside pick-up options and to-go options rapidly transforming the way community members access resources, Reading-2-Go was a natural fit. In the first few weeks of the kits' launch, 68% of the collection was checked out so the library planned to expand the collection.

“Initially when we launched we had a total of 50 kits in the collection, we'll be adding an additional 28. So systemwide, we'll have 78 kits, which is really exciting,” said Boyce.

More information about Reading-2-Go kits and instructions for curbside pick-up is available at smpl.org.

Chalie(3) and Quinn Fletcher(5) pose with Reading-2-Go backpacks at the pick up area at the Santa Monica Public Library main branch. Santa Monica, Calif. Monday April 5, 2021 (Jorge Devotto | The Corsair)