Public libraries have a longstanding tradition of supporting families, childcare providers, preschool teachers, and communities to help every child enter school ready to learn to read. PLA’s and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)’s Every Child Ready to Read1 (ECRR) initiative clearly defines the role of public libraries in supporting parents and caregivers […]
Books can open doorways to discovery. PerfectPiggies! (2010) by Sandra Boynton, for example, delights babies and toddlers with quirky fun and
upbeat illustrations—and helps grown-ups interact with children. “Isn’t that pig silly? What do you think will happen next?” Adults learn to relax and enjoy the “conversation”—”bah doo bah doink.” Parents can invite story connections to personal life. “A piggy needs kindness. Wasn’t Grandma kind to bring us flowers yesterday?” A well-chosen book and a suggested home activity help parents create a heart-to-heart intimacy with their child. Library play-and-learn centers magnetically draw children into the kind of play that engages and inspires them. Grown-ups and children—by talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing—can enter into this world of discovery.
One of the beauties of Google Books is the ability to search the entire text of millions of items, bypassing the necessity of hunting down known items or even familiarity with the published literature on the topic. All the patron needs is the name of an ancestor or a historical curiosity to begin the search. This article will focus on ways average readers, librarians, and genealogists can enrich their research in surprising ways by the variety of materials beyond mere monographs that are contained in Google Books.
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