Life, Literacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Importance of Libraries in the Lives of Young Children

Authors

  • Steven L. Herb Penn State University

Abstract

The Fourth Follett Lecture, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University, 23 April 2008

This paper traces emergent literacy from early language development through the importance of parent–facilitated early literacy learning to effective literature practices in homes and public libraries. Special attention is paid to the successful advocacy role of public libraries and children’s librarians. Several exemplary national literacy programs are also highlighted.

Author Biography

Steven L. Herb, Penn State University

Steven L. Herb is head of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library and affiliate professor of Language, Culture and Society in the College of Education at Penn State University. Dr. Herb is also the director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. From 2007 to 2010, he held the Follett Chair in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University, the third professor to hold the appointment.

Herb’s research interests have focused on early childhood education, in particular, the role of libraries in fostering emergent literacy. He is the co-author of two children’s literature textbooks with his spouse and writing partner, Dr. Sara Willoughby–Herb, professor emerita of early childhood education at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania — Using Children’s Books in Preschool Settings (1994) and Connecting Fathers, Children, and Reading (2002), both published by Neal–Schuman.

Herb is a past president of the Association for Library Service to Children, the division of the American Library Association that has been the leading advocate for the literacy rights and literature choices for America’s children for over a century.

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Issue

Vol. 19 No. 1 & 2 (2011)

Section

Articles

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