How Libraries Expand Literacy Access for Families

In this episode of ODRD RewirED, host Kristin Allen talks with representatives from the Connecticut State Library about a statewide effort to expand access to dyslexia and literacy resources in all 191 public libraries across Connecticut.

Together, they explore how libraries serve as trusted community hubs, connecting families, educators, and students with high-quality literacy supports, curated dyslexia resources, and services through the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books (CT LAB). The conversation highlights the power of collaboration between schools, families, libraries, and state agencies in ensuring that literacy resources are accessible to all learners.

Listeners will also learn about statewide literacy initiatives, professional learning opportunities for librarians, and the role libraries play in supporting literacy development from early childhood through adulthood. This episode offers valuable insights for educators, families, librarians, and community leaders working to create more equitable access to literacy across Connecticut. 

Transcript

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Welcome to ODRD Rewired, a podcast from the Connecticut State Department of Education's Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities, where we connect research, policy, and practice to support equitable literacy outcomes for all students. Across Connecticut, improving literacy outcomes requires more than classroom instruction alone. It takes collaboration between schools, families, and community partners to ensure that children's experiences are consistent with encouragement, meaningful engagement, and meaningful access to literacy resources. Today we're joined by members of the Connecticut State Library team who are helping to expand access to dyslexia resources across all 191 public libraries in the state. Through a partnership with the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities, the State Library is supporting a statewide dyslexia awareness display, curated resource collections, and access to the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books, also known as CT Lab. This work reflects a powerful vision, one where families can walk into their local library and find high-quality, evidence-aligned resources that support literacy development, deepen understanding of dyslexia, and promote access for all learners. We're grateful for the opportunity to highlight this initiative and explore how libraries serve as critical partners in advancing literacy access and opportunities for students and families across the state. To get us started, we are joined by Dawn and Kathy today. And so I'm just hoping that you both could introduce yourselves and briefly share the role of Connecticut State Library in supporting communities across the state. I'm Dawn Laval. Hi, Kristen. Hi everyone. We're so happy to be here with our partners. I'm Director Division of Library Development for the Connecticut State Library, which oversees all statewide library services for academic, school, public, and special libraries. Everything from consulting, grants, our Connecticut Digital Library, our Middletown Library Center, Service Center Resource Center. We're embedded in the library community providing professional development, special projects, and so on. Kathy? I'm Kathy Potter. Thanks for having us today. I am a librarian one and I am part of the children and YA team here. And I work to connect librarians and media specialists with materials at the Middletown Library Service Center. I create presentations on topics for professional development and work on literacy initiatives, participate in outreach events and promote the materials and resources here. And we are just wrapping up our 2026 March Madness Puppet Edition, which the library community has been voting on their favorite puppets in consecutive rounds. Thank you both again for joining us and giving us insight into your broader roles. And I think that really sets the stage for the work we're going to discuss today. So can you both, or one or of you, share how the partnership between the state library and the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities came together and why it's so important for libraries to be part of this statewide dyslexia awareness effort? Yeah, absolutely. So Melissa Hickey, who is on the state library board, actually connected us with you. And it was it was just the no-brainer to be able to, you know, she recognized the value, she understands how we serve the broader library community. And and libraries are in communities, they're embedded, they're they're community hubs, they're the the all access, free, open to everyone. But most importantly, libraries are trusted. People that are looking for everything from dyslexia services to legal services. The first place they go is their public library. Um, their public librarians are their partners. And because it libraries are open, um, they're free, they're accessible to all, that that is the place that they tend to go first for these types of services. Shout out to Melissa Hickey for connecting us. I love it. And really, this partnership has led to something really exciting at the community level. Uh, the dyslexia awareness display is now available in all 191 libraries across Connecticut. And so I'm wondering what that level of access means for families and communities? The level of access, again, because we can provide uh those resources to these libraries that they can in turn provide to their communities. It's something that cannot happen in any other state, local agency. It's having this connection, this network of libraries that are staffed with library professionals who help navigate residents to these services is something very special. It's unique to the role of libraries in our communities. Um, and it is unique, but it's particularly in Connecticut because we are so um we are so tightly, we're a tight-knit community. I I definitely have observed that. I've been to, I think, five libraries now on our library tour around the state, and and I feel that special uh relationship with libraries and the community. Every single library that I've attended, they just you can see the interaction between the librarians and the community and how they just are just hold that unique bond, I guess I would say. Um, and so I'm excited that you were able to offer that across the state. And so, in addition to what families might see when they walk into a library, there are also resources available behind the scenes that really expand access to. And so I'm wondering if you could explain what CT Lab is, uh who it serves, and how it supports individuals with dyslexia or other print disabilities. So, thank you for that. So the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books is part of a network of the National Library System, which is a uh which is an offering of the Library of a Congress. So the National Library Service uh provides free resources to persons who are blind, visually impaired, tactilely impaired, but also learning disabled, such as dyslexia. So uh CT Lab provides resources free of charge. We have um special equipment that is free. Uh the downloadable books are free to anyone who has uh who are blind, uh, visually impaired, or learning disabled. Specifically, in the past couple of years, the National Library Service introduced learning disabled resources. So, resources that are provided to us as a network library to give us the ability to screen, identify, and teach literacy-related disabilities. Benefits include a direct reading instruction, text reading, and speech recognition systems. Our equipment and reading materials are specifically designed to allow for those slowing down the reading to use both the audio and the visual aspects of the reading to help with the dyslexia needs of our community. That is amazing. Um I definitely hope that when folks listen to this podcast that they uh look into the CT lab because I think it's it's extremely beneficial for so many individuals across our state. And it's clear that access is truly a major theme across all of this work. Um, and so from your perspective, how do public libraries help reduce barriers for families and ensure that these kinds of literacy resources are accessible right in their local communities? Absolutely. So again, uh our partnership with our libraries and providing these resources, um, not only on the statewide level but at the local level, particularly with the CT lab materials, that public libraries, a librarian can connect the patrons with these services, or they can reach out to the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books directly. We educate and inform and provide all the necessary information to our public library so they're aware of the services that we provide, that the National Library Service provides. And it's again, it's that trust. It's I I think the the key word here is trust, um, the the accessibility. Everyone is welcome. There is no um from across the socioeconomic uh diversity of the state, that everybody has the same access to these materials, and they have the same access to the experts who can connect these um our residents with these materials. I love that the fact that you brought the word trust up because I think that is so um meaningful and purposeful in all of this work. And one of the ways that access is expanded even further is through the resources libraries can share with one another. And so libraries can borrow a curated dyslexia support kit from the state library. Can you tell us what's included and how that model expands access to local libraries and families? And I'm gonna turn this over to Kathy. Sure, I'd be happy to share that. Um, so inside the kit, there are seven books. Uh, there are three books that focus on the character of dyslexia dude, uh, and they include dyslexia, um, Dr. Dyslexia Dude, um, Dr. Dyslexia Dude and the battle for resilience, Dr. Dyslexia Dude Cracking the Code. And uh, those are all by um Dr. Sean and Anishra Robinson. Um, and then there are three more books that focus on a character named Molly, and those are Molly's Great Discovery, Molly Tells the World, and Molly Finds a Way. And those are um all by Chris Krista Weltner. And the the seventh book is The Dyslexia Advocate: How to Advocate for a Child with Dyslexia within the public education system. And all of the books um really uh give families an opportunity to see that uh they have supports, whether it's um through family or staff, um, to you know, find what they need to be successful in their own life. Um and the other information that's in the kit is uh additional information for resources that are other books that they might explore, other agencies and organizations that they might want to contact, and information about publishers that uh publish books that are use a type that's a dyslexic-friendly type. So all of those come in one package and they are available at um or through a public library that they can um the public library can request from the Middletown Library Service Center. Thank you. And I think that we'll um when we share this podcast, there's a lot of great uh resources, and so we'll we'll make sure that the links are also available to everyone that listens to the podcast and and emphasize that in our uh monthly newsletter that goes out as well. You know, more information about like the CT lab and uh where they can find those resources as well as the dyslexia kits that you're talking about. And I just have to give a shout out to uh Dr. Sean Robinson and uh Crystal Weldner, they were part of our dyslexia collaborative last year and did read alouds of their books, and both are just phenomenal individuals, and I can't praise their work um enough. They they truly are inspiring, and I hope, and I know that shines in their book. So I encourage everyone to take a look at these kits and um you know engage in the reading of the series by Dr. Sean Robinson and Krista Weltner. So that initiative that you just discussed really feels like a like a part of something bigger. And so can you share how this works work connects to the state library's broader efforts to support literacy and learning across Connecticut? Sure. The State Library really works to support literacy from birth to you know forever. We just recently uh published an early literacy calendar that is undated, so it's a perpetual calendar that families can print and use at home, and they include activities that support gaining skills in reading, writing, singing, talking, playing, moving, and counting, taking every day as the opportunity to boost those pre-literacy skills because those are so important to have those skills before children get to school and really start the work of learning to read. And we also have a program called LCT Reads, where there are librarians and other people that work together to come up with a list of books that are focused for kids, for teens, and adults that really look at providing some diversity in the stories that are told. The state division of library development also works with the governor's office in this year, um expanding the governor's summer reading program to the governor's summer learning program. So encouraging uh families to continue the learning over the summer when they're not in formal school. Part of our offerings of the Division of Library Development is we train, we provide professional development training for librarians in literacy skills. So Kathy's been working on one of our long-going programs, Every Child Ready to Read, which it really is a resource that allows uh parents to learn how to expand the literacy skills of their children. And this is a particular concern for parents that may not be literate in their own language, um, who may not understand, you know, a child brings a book home. How do you encourage that child? How do you read along? Uh so we provide a lot of professional development training for our professional librarians that allows them to in turn expand the literacy offerings that they have within their libraries, everything from early literacy to adult literacy. That is phenomenal work. Uh and something I wasn't aware of. So wow, kudos. That I mean, that's great. Is it is there information on that that could also be found on the website? Is that more internal to the libraries? So all of our um information is available on our LibGuides, which is our basically everything that we do, is public. Um we do we do uh primarily serve the libraries themselves, but there's many resources that we offer, including our ebook platform, our statewide databases that serve from K to 12 and adults, are directly accessible by library patrons and residents of the state of Connecticut that they can access directly. Um, but most of the services that we provide are through the public libraries, uh, through our statewide delivery system, our statewide digital library. Um everything of that nature is uh directly and indirectly available to the patrons, residents of the state of Connecticut. That's great. I mean, I'm I'm just blown away. And and um I I don't know if I've shared this with either of you, but when I was a child, I wanted to be a librarian. Like I would I would play like pretend uh with my brother and I would pretend to scan the books. And I just love like the plastic, I mean, back in the day, right? The plastic wrap that was like around each book, and and I oh I just I have vivid memories of of doing the pretem play and and wanting to be the librarian and and going to the library and filling up my bag was just magical. It's so funny you say that because I did the same thing. I played banker, teacher, and librarian. And I like the librarian and I would check the books out to my stuffed animals, and and they some of them were not good and they had some overdue fines, um, that I was very particular about that. And and I was that kid who went to the library every weekend and came home with just a stack of books. Yeah, and it's like something that it just stays the same, right? It it's you know, in the age that there are so many changes, um, the library, the library is like that core place that just will remain the the hub for communities, you know, uh just for for information, for connection, uh, for building that trust that you brought up. And so um it just uh I love I could share our memories uh, you know, about our experiences all day. And um, but for listeners who are hearing about this and want to take the next step, where should families and educators go to access these resources and learn more? I know you mentioned a couple um, you know, sites, and and we'll make sure again for our listeners that we include the links to all of these sites in uh like when we post the podcast, but just wondering if you can give us just a summary of uh where we can access all these amazing resources. The best place to go is to the public library, and um the public librarians can help them find the information that they're looking for. Uh, contact us to borrow the kits if the families are interested in reading more. And these kits are also available to teachers and other educators. Um, that is another core group that we work with. Um, so I would start at the public library, and they can help uh families get connected to what they need. That's such great advice. Go to your public library uh and get and get all this information. Amazing. And then Don, I know you mentioned all CT reads. Did you want to quickly explain that? So Kathy brought that up. So All Connecticut Reads is a public site that uh residents of the state of Connecticut can go directly to. Um, so I popped that in the chat there, that that's one of those resources that that is directly accessible, including a lot of our databases. Well, what you've described is a model where literacy access extends beyond the classroom and into the heart of every community. This initiative ensures that families can access meaningful, high-quality resources in spaces that are trusted, welcoming, and local. Your work highlights the critical role that libraries play in advancing literacy, not just as places to access books, but as hubs of knowledge, connection, and opportunity. By making dyslexia resources visible and accessible to all 191 libraries, you are helping to ensure that families feel informed, supported, and empowered. And this is what it looks like when systems work together. When state leadership, community institutions, and families are aligned in supporting literacy development for all learners. So thank you for sharing your insight and for the impact this initiative is having across the state of Connecticut. And thank you to our listeners for tuning in to ODRD Rewired. Join us next time as we continue to highlight voices, experiences, and practices that advance literacy, equity, and opportunity for all learners.