Information Grounds and Early Childhood Programming

Andrea Emmons LIS 5053

GROUNDED IN EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY

What are Information Grounds?• Information grounds can occur anywhere• Places where people come together for a common purpose, but where spontaneous information sharing occurs as an aside • Information sharing is often unrelated to the purpose they came together •May or may not be related to the place• “Place” can be physical or virtual

Why Children’s Programs?

Informal

Places Where People Gather

For A Common Purpose

Children’s programs offer the essential nutrients needed to cultivate an information ground. These programs are generally informal in nature, have lots of people gathering together, and for a common purpose. Once people feel comfortable, it is only natural that information sharing will occur!

Information Sharing

Who Comes to Children’s Programs at the Library?• Parents or Caregivers of Children• These may include

• Stay at home parents

• Foster Parents

• Grandparents who watch children while parents work

• Nannies, babysitters, or other child-care providers

• CHILDREN ages 0-5.

The SettingThe early childhood programs I observed happened at a public library in my community.

This particular library offers four early childhood programs weekly with a wide range of activities on a rotating basis including;

• Organized Play Times• Story Times• Movement Games• Music Play Activities

I observed four sessions of Music Play Activities.

Before Each Program: The Cycle Observed

Caregiver arrives early, greets staff

& claims child’s nametag

Caregiver and child move to Family/Play

Area

Another caregiver arrives, claims

nametag, and joins others in

family/play area

Discussion ensues

Program Start Time Arrives: caregivers

& children enter program room

Common Discussion Topics Observed in Family/Play Area

Superficial

• Weather, standard greetings

Related to

Place

• Books enjoyed, other programs at the library

Related to

Event

• Child Development & Growth Since Last Visit

Participants

’ Interest

s

• Sports, Politics, Hobby Information

Useful Information

• Current Sales, Medical or Specialist Referrals

Information Sharing During the Programs

Librarian Information Sharing• Introduced directions for

activities• Explained why certain activities

are beneficial developmentally• Coached care givers on how to

interact with their children during activities or modeling behaviors

Caregivers’ Discussions• Minimal information sharing was noted

during each program• Discussions mostly focused on what

was happening within the room

After Each Program• 3-4 Caregivers would leave library • 3-4 Caregivers would search for library materials• 6-8 Caregivers would return to the family/play area and begin the discussion cycle again, with some overlap of caregivers between sessions.• 2-3 Individuals would remain in the program room to request library staff assistance for specific needs/concerns

Observation Findings

Serendipitous Sharing of Information!

Other Topics of Interest (Politics, Sports, Current

Sales, & etc)

Topics Related to

Place/Event (Children’s Growth &

Development)

Superficial Topics

(Weather)

Caregiver discussions before and after Early Childhood Programs do represent Information Grounds!

Surprise Findings• There was minimal information sharing between caregivers during the program itself. •While some information was shared during the program, content focused on what was happening in the room. This indicates the program itself was not an information ground.

Possible Reasons• Nature of particular program observed • Directions demanded parental involvement• Peculiarity of population or location observed

How We Could Test This • Observe other Early Childhood Sessions at this location to see if the same

phenomenon occurs at different types of programs within the same population or not

• Observe Early Childhood Sessions at other locations to see if there are similar patterns in other areas

Literature Review: The Importance of Early Childhood Programming

Library programs for early childhood and their adult caregivers are designed with two main purposes;• Introduce caregivers to library resources for

young children • Enhance children's emergent literacy

Literature Review: Planting the Seed• Research indicates story times not only meet children’s

immediate information needs, but also have longstanding effects well into adulthood• Prendergast suggests that the community has "a well-

established need for young children to grow up in environments rich in language and literacy opportunities" (Prendergast 2011, 20).

Literature Review: Planning Early Childhood Programming

Advice for Planning Early Childhood Programming is covered extensively in the literature. Some advice for planning early childhood programming include; • Use purposeful planning for a variety of developmental and

ability levels• Cultivate an inviting atmosphere that make all feel welcome• Prepare children for school by by modeling the behaviors,

skills, and questions used in education settings• Foster an appreciation of reading to children

Dig A Little Deeper: Gaps in the Literature•What about the information needs of caregivers?• While the literature includes generous information about the

information needs of children in early childhood programming, there is very little about the information needs of caregivers.

• Are caregivers' needs are being met through giving their children more exposure to early childhood literacy activities alone, or do their needs run deeper?

• I’d like to see more discussion regarding how early childhood programming meets the needs of whole families in professional literature.

References • Cahill, Maria. 2004. "Meeting the Early Literacy Needs of Children through

Preschool Outreach Story Time Programs" Knowledge Quest 33(2): 61-62.• D'Orazio, Antonette K. 2007. "Small Steps, Big Results: Preparing a Story Time

for Children with Special Needs" Children & Libraries 5(3): 21-23.• Fisher, Karen E, Joan C Durrance, and Marian Bouch Hinton. 2004. "Information

Grounds and the Use of Need-Based Services by Immigrants in Queens, New York: A Context Based, Outcome Evaluation Approach” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 55(8): 754-766.

• McKechnie, Lynne E. F. 2006. "Observations of Babies and Toddlers in Library Settings” Library Trends 55(1):190-201

• Pettigrew, Karen. 1999. "Waiting for Chiropody: Contextual Results from an Enthnographic Study of the Information Behavior Among Attendees at Community Clinics” Information Processing and Management 35(1999): 801-817.

• Prendergast, Tess. 2011. "Beyond Storytime" Children & Libraries: The Journal for the Association for Library Service to Children 9(1): 20-40.

• Thomas, James. 2008. "Wonderful 'Ones'" Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 6 (1): 23-27.

• Tvaruzka, Kathryn. 2009. "Warning: Children in the Library! Welcoming Children and Families into the Academic Library" Education Libraries 32(2): 21-26.