Featured Program Vignette

LAMBS Mobile Library Unit

Earlier this year, on January 20, 2015, the California School Board Association awarded a Golden Bell award to Riverside County of Education, in collaboration with the Brawley Public Library Literacy And Mobile Book Services (LAMBS) Program, for community-based literacy services throughout Imperial County.  The Brawley Public Library LAMBS Program has been funded by the Imperial County Children & Families First Commission since 2001, and over $3,000,000 have bee allocated by the Commission for the valuable literacy services offered through the program.
Operating for 15 years now, the LAMBS, a 32’ mobile library unit, has traveled in and out of preschool centers and other locations that serve children with the intention to offer age appropriate storytimes for children 0-5 years of age, targeting as many as 3,000 children per year. These child centered literacy activities include an opening song, fingerplay, story,and activity that is all centered around a theme. In addition, and perhaps one of the highlights for all young children involved are rewarded with a book through the literacy give-away component of the library; each child is given the opportunity to enter the mobile unit to select a book to take home and keep for the purpose of establishing a home library and promoting in-home literacy. During the course of the school year a child will receive up to 5 books for their home library. Studies show that children who are read at home and are afforded regular access to books have greater success in school.  Books are also available for center staff, parents, and caregivers to check out, then returned on the unit’s next visit or dropped of at any library branch in the county. On a yearly basis the Project provides more than 10,000 books at no cost to children and families through these mobile visits, and staff has tirelessly worked to provide over 175,000 books through hundreds of storytime activities to preschoolers since the mobile unit first broke in its wheels on Imperial Valley roads.
The mobile unit was designed to hold a wide variety of literacy activities.  Other than books, the program offers take-home parent components at no cost for children and their families to engage in pre-literacy activities at home.  Children significantly benefit from this component due to the fact that the value of literacy acquisition is highly promoted as a “take home” activity through the book give-away and the parent component. Furthermore, this strategy is made use of by LAMBS staff in order to promote more parent involvement in the literacy development of the child.

The focus of the Brawley Public Library LAMBS mobile literacy unit has been to travel throughout Imperial County giving under-served children ages 0-5 and their parents/caregivers access to literacy activities and materials, as well as incorporating services that may be provided through other service providers in a collaborative effort to enhance the lives of preschoolers.  For instance, the LAMBS program collaborates with the Imperial County Children & Families First Commission’s Special Programs School Readiness Program through Family Health and Community Resource Health Fairs that are provided to selected underperforming elementary school catchment areas.  For more information please contact Director of the Brawley Public Library, Marjo Mello at (760) 344-1891.

For a listing of other Proposition 10 funded Projects featured by the Commission click here.