1000 Books Before Kindergarten

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a program sponsored by many libraries in Wisconsin and beyond.  It highlights the importance and the delight in reading with young children by encouraging families to read 1000 books together before a child enters Kindergarten.  There are many social emotional and language development benefits to reading aloud with young children and a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten can be one way to encourage and promote the practice.

A 2013 IFLS Keeping Up with Kids blog post has these ideas/information, still relevant:

The goal of 1000 Books Before Kindergarten is to encourage early literacy development and young families reading together.  Because repetition is a great think for kids’ developing brains, most libraries tell parents to count each time a book is read.  What does reading 1000 books look like?

• One bedtime story every night for three years.
• Ten books a week for two years.
• Twenty books a week for one year (that’s just 3 books a day).

The program has many variations:

• Incentives.
  • Most libraries have some sort of a display–a physical representation of the number of books being read by participants.  In Hammond, for every 100 books, kids get to put a leaf on a tree in the library (and for every 25 books, they get a sticker to put in their own record book).  In Altoona, they’ll be using a train mural in the front of the circulation desk, with kids putting up stickers every 100 books.
  • Many libraries give books to kids when they’ve had a 1000 books read to them–and some libraries give a book at 250, 500 and 750 books read.  Some libraries give out nursery rhyme collections.
  • Many libraries have some sort of special event (or events) to celebrate the program, including graduation parties–or just plain parties for all participants.
  • Michelle Johnson, director at the Hammond Public Library, says that the best and most exciting incentives are more intangible–parents and kids are enjoying spending more time reading together, and the both kids and parents are excited to watch their pre-reading skills grow as kids gear up for kindergarten.
• Funding
  • Some libraries go all out and get sponsors for the program, enabling them to do lots of incentives and serve many kids.
  • Other libraries have this worked into their regular budget.
• Getting participants
  • Ages:  some start with babies, others wait till the child will be most excited to add something to their library display (2 or 3 years old), others really put a push on for kids starting 4K.
  • Many libraries partner with preschools, Headstart, daycare centers, 4K programs, etc. to promote the program.