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The Sunshine Library in Wakefield is the first purpose-built
early years library in the country, and provides a focus for
early language development and book enjoyment among families
living in the deprived community of Sure Start Wakefield West.
Its development is due to the shared vision among its key
partners - Wakefield Library Services, St George's Community
Project and Sure Start - and the qualities and enthusiasm
of the early years librarian. Since it opened in July 2001,
300 adults and over 400 children have joined the library and
in 2003 it was extended to provide additional space.
The library is open every day, supported by a member of staff
and trained volunteers. There is a strong emphasis on outreach
activity to encourage parents who haven't been inside a library
before. Home visits are carried out by the Bookstart Plus
coordinators who will often accompany parents to the library
to take part in one-off craft sessions and collect their Bookstart
pack. The Asian community has been targeted to encourage more
Asian mothers to use the library and show them how to enjoy
and share books with their children, even if their English
is not very good. The early years librarian regularly visits
community groups, with book boxes for them to use and borrow.
The Sunshine library runs Busy Babies and Messy Monkeys,
which are short courses (10 weeks) run by the Workers' Educational
Association (WEA) offering parents and their very young children
craft activities, storytelling sessions and help in choosing
books to borrow. Cyber Tots are individual sessions run with
young children to help them access CD ROMs or use the word
processing package. A colour printer enables them to have
a record of their work. As part of Wakefield Library Services,
the Sunshine library also runs holiday activity sessions and
World Book Day celebrations.
The library is housed next door to St George's Under Twos
Nursery which provides opportunities for shared activities
and, for the nursery, access to book loans to support special
themes. The library offers a Tea and Tissues session first
thing in the morning to provide a listening ear for those
parents who are getting used to leaving their children for
the very first time, and to encourage them to see the library
as a resource they can access. Upstairs is an adult training
centre.
Very young children are encouraged to talk and listen through
imaginative devices such as 'talking' penguin and parrot rubbish
bins in the nursery garden, and the planned construction of
a 'listening bridge' with holes for children to speak through.
Funding for the library to be built was provided by Sure Start
and the Coalfield Regeneration Trust. Sure Start funds the
librarian post and the two part-time Bookstart Plus coordinators.
The WEA courses, Busy Babies and Messy Monkeys, are funded
from European grants.
Sure Start Wakefield West sees the library as part of its
integrated approach to early years provision, supported by
a strong partnership with Wakefield library service. A strength
is having a librarian whose personality and enthusiasm for
books in children's lives means she goes out of her way to
find the appropriate resource for each person, whether a parent
or a member of the nursery or Sure Start team.
The high level of parental involvement has also contributed
to success: parents were involved in the design of the nursery
from the very beginning, in the appointment of staff, the
library theme (the farmyard), designing the Bookstart Plus
bags and even the choice of name - the Sunshine Library. At
a strategic level, the libraries have a high profile within
Wakefield MB Council which has enabled long-term support for
their work. The strong partnership has led to a confidence
in obtaining long-term mainstream funding of the library and
its work.
One of the Bookstart Plus coordinators at the Sunshine Library
is funded specifically to work with the Asian community in
Wakefield West, although have been moves to make the post
more generic. The Bookstart Plus coordinator is managed by
and works closely with the library team, but links also with
the Sure Start team. Once the Sure Start team has made the
initial home visit and families sign up, they are asked if
they would like the Bookstart Plus coordinator to visit. If
there are particular child protection issues or other concerns,
this will be a joint visit, although there are benefits for
the Bookstart coordinator not to be seen as an 'official'
member of the team.
On home visits, the coordinator's language skills mean she
can translate for Asian families if necessary, although she
encourages parents to share stories in whatever language they
are comfortable. The aim is to encourage parents to visit
the Sunshine library. Sometimes parents need several home
visits before they feel sufficiently confident to do so, accompanied
by the coordinator. Having received some initial basic skills
training, she can also provide support for parents' literacy
and help them make the step in to local learning provision.
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