Dec. 13, 2023 – On a warm March evening, dozens of parents and young children gathered in classrooms on Kirkwood Community College’s campus for a meal, conversations about parenting, and story time.

Story time wasn’t usually part of the agenda at these evening parenting classes, hosted by Cedar Rapids nonprofit YPN. But that night, staff from the library were there, leading the parents and kids alike in stories, songs, and crafts.

The children were singing along and enthusiastically shaking colorful scarves that were passed around the room, but this was more than an evening of fun. The library staff were explaining how to use songs, stories, and games to encourage early literacy and help young children get ready for kindergarten.

Programming Specialist Olivia Stoner led one of the sessions, teaching interactive songs and reading a picture book, demonstrating how to make the activity more engaging by not just reading the words on the pages but turning them into conversations, giving children a chance to explore and add their own imaginative additions to the story.

These techniques and skills can make a big difference for children’s developing brains, said Literacy Coordinator Elizabeth Yusko, who coordinates Reading into Success. Reading Into Success is the local campaign for Grade Level Reading.

“A lot of people do not understand the simple things you can do daily that are going to help your child in the end,” she said.

The sessions were translated into Spanish and French, making them accessible to Cedar Rapids’ growing Latino and African immigrant populations. Sessions have also been held with translators for recently arrived Afghani families.

YPN’s mission is to support young families, and that includes offering free classes for young parents year-round. The library was able to be part of three of those class sessions this year, teaching not just early literacy skills but taking families on tours of the library and introducing them to the wide variety of services the library offers for all ages.

“The partnership has been really great – YPN works with young parents, and a lot of them are immigrants or refugees, and a lot may not be familiar with the services the library offers,” said YPN Director of Programs Meridith Myers.

She said bringing in an organization like the library fits into YPN’s larger ethos of building community support.

“We believe that no one person can do it all, and we believe community involvement is really important,” she said.

Ariel Jimenez was about six months pregnant when she started attending the classes. Her daughter is 3 now.

“I had worked in daycares, but parenting your own child is very different. I knew I would have challenges,” she said. “I just wanted to be as ready as possible, to learn as much as possible, to be the best mom I could be.”

The classes are free and open to Linn County parents with children ages 0-5, regardless of race, income, marital status, or living situation.

Ami Cronan had been coming to the classes for a year. She has three children, ages 4, 7, and 12.

“It’s been very helpful in a lot of ways. They’re a big support. They teach different techniques for parenting and share resources that have been very helpful,” she said.

The library reached 121 family members through the classes this year. The library also participated in similar classes on six nights with preschool families at Wright and Taylor elementaries, serving 109 family members.

Yusko said she hopes the library can be part of the classes again in the future, perhaps with an expanded role or for an extended period.

Amy Grunewaldt is the Director of Early Childhood Iowa in Linn County and of the Linn County Decat Board, which allocates state funds. The library was awarded $25,000 through a grant process with these agencies last year as a pilot, and the funding continues for this fiscal year.

“YPN already has groups of families that are at-risk and wanting to find skill sets and resources for their kids,” Grunewaldt said. “Bringing together the library and YPN – in my opinion, it was just a perfect match. I want this to be the start of something larger, of starting to work with these organizations … There is just a lot of potential here.”

She said no organization can take on the challenges of addressing something as big as early literacy and childhood success alone.

“We can start doing things differently than we have before,” she said. “We want to change the narrative.”