NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT SHELBY COUNTY BOOKS FROM BIRTH
SPRING 2015
Parenting is hard, truly. Along with a blanket and a car seat, fear and uncertainty often accompany parents as they leave the hospital with their new baby. And these emotions tend to tag along with each new stage of a child?s development. This universal condition needs a universally available support structure around it, as the majority of our new families can benefit from assistance and guidance to ensure their children get off to the best start possible. This type of support for parents and caregivers of our youngest children should be part of our culture. We apply this philosophy at Books from Birth by choosing to make the Imaginat ion Library available to all children. While this universal access approach is a privilege provided by generous donors, we do feel it is the most efficient and effective use of early childhood resources. Simply put, all children are at risk of not getting a good foundation of pre-literacy skills, so all children are eligible. Due to this approach, nearly 75% of Shelby County children participate for some period of time. That is a remarkable community literacy effort. All Shelby County parents now have another type of support available to them. Due to years of hard work by child advocate Barbara H. Nixon, Shelby County is the first community in the United States to offer Universal Parent ing Pl aces, or UPP Cent ers. In the same way that children have ?well-care? visits to their pediatrician, families will have the opportunity for ?well-parenting check-ups? at UPP. The idea is that parents can talk through real and present challenges with a trained, supportive, and non-judgmental staff, at no cost to the parents. Like Books f rom Birt h, Universal Parent ing Pl aces offer the same universal access and opportunity for parents to ensure their children are off to a good start. As a community we cannot leave these important first few years of life to chance. Every day, 35-40 new children enter the world in our community, and we get a new chance to support them. We are certainly excited about the UPP Cent ers.