Why Sutter County made IL Program Countywide

Why did Sutter County, California open their previously restricted Imagination Library Program to ALL children age 0-5 there?

Because their own 2018 study by the Sutter County Children & Families Commission found factors predicting Kinder-Readiness include “Reading with the child” and “Understands structure & basic features of books” i.e., how to handle them, to turn pages right-to-left and later to read text left-to-right, top-to-bottom.

This is not innate human understanding, it is cultural and it is learned.

These basic understandings are best learned so early we are unaware of learning them. Children who do not master them in infancy & toddlerhood must do so later — when learning basic handling diminishes ability to learn about and from text and images on the pages.

A child who gives no thought to “How To Hold and Open a Book, How To Turn Pages” can focus fully on the content.

Children born into homes with books part of everyday life are more likely to benefit from their content. A University of Nevada Reno 20 year, 27 Nation study concluded that simply counting the number of books in a preschooler’s home is a stronger predictor of later academic success than parent income or education level. As few as 20 books in the has a significant impact and more books give greater benefit.

Finally, It's about the odds. Odds are, a child who begins life in a home with books will fare better in school and beyond than one who does not.

The BBBP exists to stack the odds in favor of literacy for as many Bay Area infants and preschoolers as we can.