VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 4
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children can engage in literacy-rich activities that promote early reading, provide
parents with important models of how to engage their children with books and
develop a connection with the library that can become a valued lifelong resource.
Figure 1
Reading at the Library
Research suggests that children with disabilities who do not demonstrate
school readiness skills upon entry to kindergarten are often placed in self-contained
special education settings where opportunities to learn to read and write are
diminished (Ruppar et al., 2011). Despite the critical role that storytime programs
play in equalizing the opportunities for children to learn early literacy skills,
librarians report having few children with disabilities in their programs, and those
that do attend experience difficulty participating due to sensory, behavioral, motor