================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 28 ISSN 1069-7799 April 22, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (83 lines) FIRST LADY "PRESCRIBES READING" FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS -- URGES LIBRARY & HEALTH CARE PARTNERSHIPS _________________________________________________________________ FIRST LADY "PRESCRIBES READING" FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS -- URGES LIBRARY & HEALTH CARE PARTNERSHIPS American Library Association (ALA) leaders say the new focus on preschool reading announced Wednesday, April 16, by First Lady Hillary Clinton provides an unprecedented opportunity to highlight the role of libraries in serving preschool children and their families. "It's exciting to see our national leaders recognize what librarians have been saying all along -- that reading and word play are critical to young children's development," said ALA President Mary R. Somerville. "There's never been a better time to tell the world why kids can't wait for libraries that are well stocked and staffed." At a press conference held in Washington D.C. before a White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning, the President and Mrs. Clinton announced a new national partnership to "prescribe reading" to infants and toddlers with pediatricians, hospitals, health centers, publishers, libraries and others working together to make sure infants and toddlers have access to books and are read to regularly. The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that pediatricians prescribe reading to infants and toddlers as part of standard pediatric care. In addition to ALA, other members of the coalition include Scholastic, Inc., First Book, and Reach Out and Read. The First Lady is calling for every community to come together, using its local library in partnership with health providers to encourage reading to young children and ensure that every child under age five is read to regularly by the year 2000. She cited programs such as "Reach Out and Read" endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatricians and the "Born to Read" demonstration project administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA, as examples of such partnerships. Steven Herb, president of ALSC, said the division aims to establish "Born to Read" demonstration sites in every state and is challenging all 16,000 public libraries to establish similar programs. Launched in 1993 with a grant from the Prudential Foundation, the "Born to Read" project promotes partnerships between libraries and health care providers to teach new parents the importance of reading to their babies. The First Lady is honorary chair for "Born to Read" which is administered by ALSC. For more information, see the ALSC Web page at Http://www.ala.org/alsc or call 800-545-2433, ext. 1398. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================