There are a great many materials designed to aid early childhood development that libraries can make available to their community. Materials range from four-inch tall board books and finger puppets to two-foot tall “big” books and child size puppets.
Books come in a great many styles/formats for every age and developmental level. Books have certain characteristics. Being familiar with the different types of books, knowing when and where to use them, and confidently recommending certain types over others to parents/caregivers and child serving adults is an important skill.
There are a great many non-print materials such as videos, CDs and computer software as well as toys that effectively assist development. Libraries should make them available to parents/caregivers and other adults who interact with children.
Selection of materials for the early childhood area must be done carefully. Not every book or every toy is safe, appropriate or effective in aiding development. Special resources exist to aid you in collection development.
Libraries need to have resources to aid adults and parents coming from many different backgrounds in interacting with infants, toddlers and preschoolers on many different developmental levels.
Some materials are appropriate for in-house use only, but most should be made widely available for home use. How all of these materials are housed and made available to the community is another important issue relating to the early childhood collection that all libraries must effectively address.
In this course you will learn
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