The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) welcomed Assembly Member Robert Carroll (D/WF-Brooklyn) on Nov. 12 for story time with 1st graders from P.S. 321 at the Park Slope Library on 6th Avenue.
Carroll was joined by Linda Johnson, president and CEO of BPL, to whom Carroll presented a check of $180,000 to support BPL’s early literacy programs. The funds will be used to purchase decodable books for every library in Brooklyn.
Decodable books use only phonics patterns that children have already been taught, and emphasize sounding out words over guessing. The books strengthen decoding skills and accuracy, building confidence in early readers, especially children with dyslexia.
The vocabulary, which includes many sight words, irregular spellings, and multisyllabic words, even at early levels, grows gradually by “level,” rather than by phonics patterns, exposing kids to varied vocabulary and sentence structures.
Carroll, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, struggled with dyslexia as a child. His Dyslexia Task Force Act was the first major piece of dyslexia and literacy legislation ever passed by the legislature, serving as a blueprint for reforming the state’s approach to dyslexia and dysgraphia and the creation of the Center for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia.
Carroll was grateful to BPL President Johnson and her team for the ongoing partnership and noted he was looking forward to seeing all Brooklyn libraries stocked with decodable readers thanks to the funding.
“It has been my mission since being elected to the State Assembly in 2016 to see that every child gets the instruction and support they need to become strong readers,” Carroll said in a statement. “Our schools and libraries need to work in tandem when it comes to literacy education, and it is wonderful to see BPL so fully embracing evidence-based practices. “
Decodable books are a critical tool for the Science of Reading, an instructional technique that relies on decades of cognitive research on how young people process phonics.
Instructional practices grounded in the Science of Reading are now required in schools across New York State, and BPL is launching a comprehensive initiative to train librarians in the Science of Reading and to build a collection of books that support children learning to read using this method, with a $ 200,000 grant provided by the Heckscher Foundation for Children.
Johnson noted that, as a public library, helping children learn to read is one of its most important responsibilities.
“I extend my deepest thanks to Assemblymember Robert Carroll and the Heckscher Foundation for Children for their generous support, which will help our youngest patrons begin developing a lifelong love of reading,” Johnson said in a statement.
