"A joy to see": St. Paul preschool literacy program aims to narrow Minnesota's wide achievement gap
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Literacy is essential for a child's development. Reading and being read aloud to opens the door to a brighter future.
The new R.A.W. Library making sure all kids have preschool language and literacy opportunities. R.A.W. stands for reading, arithmetic and writing.
The library inside the Wilder Child Development Center in St. Paul opened in October. It is bringing preschoolers extra exposure to reading and literacy, so they have every chance to be successful.
"This library has definitely instilled the love of reading and then not just that, the love of self," said Shamara Butler, mother of 3-year-old Noah. "When I see a lot of the books that are African American children, I'm like 'Wow this is you, this is me!'"
Noah is a regular at the library. When asked how many books he checks out each week, he holds up two fingers at first, then five, and finally 10 with a bright smile.
Minnesota regularly ranks in the bottom of the country for our education gap between white, Black and Indigenous students. Having early reading programs and access to books can help lead to better outcomes.
"We know zero to 3 are the most critical years for learning, so why aren't we making more of an investment? And if we can do it early, spark that interest in reading and learning, it's a win for someone's entire life," said Dr. Artika Tyner, founder of Planting People Growing Justice.
"Having access to a book, it's really an important thing," said Angela Moore-Smith, project coordinator for African American Babies Coalition. "One of the things with me working on this project, I was amazed by the statistics with children who don't own books."
Sixty-one percent of children in low-income households are growing up in homes without books.
The R.A.W. Library and the programming around it are working to change that.
"When we have read-alouds with authors, a lot of times there's free books that are given out to families, just for families to be able to keep. They love being able to have something to themselves. So, that's a joy to see," said Moore-Smith.