The California State Librarian led the discussion on the importance of reading at a gathering of educators and supporters of literacy at the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE).
State Librarian Greg Lucas was the keynote speaker at the annual dialogue organized by the University of the Pacific’s Beyond Our Gates. Lucas was appointed State Librarian in March 2014.
“The most effective investment of taxpayer money is helping people to read,” Lucas said to the approximately 150 people at the Connections and Common Ground in Early Literacy on Sept. 10 at the SJCOE Wentworth Education Center.
Libraries play an important role in doing that by encouraging and supporting reading, and not just to the children, he said. “It’s setting the tone for parents.”
Other speakers at the event agreed about the importance of early literacy.
San Joaquin County Superintendent of Schools James Mousalimas believes that early childhood education is the core of education.
“If we are going to make progress in education, it has to start at zero to 5,” Mousalimas said. “We cannot wait until kindergarten.”
Learning to read is an important first step, University of the Pacific President Pamela Eibeck said. “After that, it’s reading to learn.”
The importance goes beyond the child learning to read because the path to a bright future for the county requires education for its youth, she said. “Being able to read and being able to learn are key to the future of our region.”
Eibeck also spoke of the importance of collaboration among early childhood educators and the community. “Helping our young is the responsibility of all people,” she said.
San Joaquin Reads Early Literacy Every Day campaign has a call to action that every child will be able to read by third grade. By doing so, they will be better prepared for the higher grades.
“If a child reads by the third grade they will have the tools to read to learn,” said Eibeck.
Also during the morning dialogue the Stockton-San Joaquin area received the 2014 Pacesetter Award from The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a national organization promoting the goal that children should be reading at grade-level by the time they complete third grade. Pacific’s Jennifer Torres Siders was acknowledged for her work at Beyond our Gates by Yolie Flores, senior fellow with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.
Flores also praised efforts to improve attendance in the San Joaquin County schools.
Student attendance has improved drastically since the local push began. In 2014 more than 20,000 students had perfect attendance in the month of September, up from 12,000 in 2013.
September is School Attendance Awareness month.
The Sept. 10 event was the fifth annual Beyond Our Gates Dialogue, designed to promote literacy by bringing state and national leaders to provide their perspectives on the topic.
Dozens of attendees at the dialogue remained for The San Joaquin County Early Childhood Education Research and Practice Symposium that followed.
Among its offerings was a talk led by Stockton City Librarian Suzy Daveluy, head of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library System.