While at the ASLC Institute in Atlanta, I attended a wonderful session by librarian Amanda Bressler entitled “Healthy Partnerships: Creating an Early Literacy Outreach Partnership for Hospitalized Children.” The description read:
Scrub in and pull on your rubber gloves; it’s time to operate…an early literacy partnership with your local hospital’s children’s unit! Based on an outreach partnership between the Boston Public Library and Boston Children’s Hospital since 2014, this program will provide an overview of hospital departments to partner with, special considerations for providing library services to severely ill children and their families, and other strategies to set up your early literacy partnership for success.
Amanda’s presentation was full of valuable information, and we were half way through when I realized I should be videotaping it. With her permission, I pulled out my cell phone and began filming. To view the second half of the presentation, click below:
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One of the really cool things is that Amanda used MGOL as the basis for her program, although she adapted it to fit the needs of her audience and surroundings. She gives tips relating to book selection, products to use, how to set up such a program (who to talk with), etc.
If you are interested in presenting ANY type of early literacy program in the hospital or clinic setting, her presentation (even just the second half!) has lots of valuable information.