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Books for Babies® is an early intervention program which began in 1994 on the West Coast of Newfoundland. Volunteers with the Humber Literacy Council who started the program felt there was a need to get books into the homes of children and to promote reading to children from birth. Indeed, studies show that the most crucial developmental period of a child's brain is during the first twelve months. Books for Babies provides parents/care-givers with the information and material to assist their children's learning during this important time. Books for Babies depends mainly on volunteers to carry out this important work. The volunteers deliver packages containing a board book for baby, a first year developmental calendar, a growth chart and brochures which include tips on reading. Where funds allow, parents are given the opportunity to register their children with the four-year followup program which involves receiving another free book every year for the next four years. Since its inception, the program has spread to many parts of the province. Since it started in 1994, program developers were interested in evaluating it to determine if any improvements needed to be made. A grant from the National Literacy Secretariat made this possible. Results showed that participants in the Books for Babies program are pleased with the program. Many parents felt that the program reminds them of the importance to read to their children every day. Others stated that they were not aware of the importance of reading to children from birth until Books for Babies volunteers pointed this out. Overall, comments were favourable. The evaluation of the program began in September, 1998 and was completed January 15, 2000. In addition to identifying improvements, some of the tasks included in the evaluation were to determine the areas where Books for Babies is in place, and to find areas where local groups would like to implement the program. To date, the program exists in hospitals in:
and areas served by these hospitals. In addition, the program is also administered by local groups in the following areas:
Other groups in the province are encouraged to contact the provincial coordinator of Books for Babies, Charmaine Lynch, if they are interested in the program. Funding has been made available to help new groups become involved in this worthwhile literacy intervention program. For a complete report of the results of the evaluation, please contact Charmaine Lynch by telephone: (709) 634-4888. Fax: (709) 634-2126, e-mail: clynch@smtp3.northatlantic.nf.ca or by mail:
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