Preparing children aged 5.5-7 years to learn reading. Can appropriate design of the library offer encourage children to visit the library?

Abstract

The topic of the article is the preparation of kindergarten children to learn reading. In addition to examining how the young children are prepared by their parents in this respect, a question was asked about the possibility of libraries designing an offer addressed to children aged 5.5-7 years. On the one hand it would give the younger children a chance to expand their reading competences. And on the other hand it would create a certain habit of using the library, which could result in a long-term bond with the reader. In order to determine how the mentioned service should be designed, a study was conducted, the results of which were to show the behaviour and methods of how parents work with their children, which could be helpful to librarians planning the service. So the authors checked what importance parents attach to teaching their children to read, how they prepare them to learn the material that awaits them in the kindergarten class, and what parents understand by learning to read at home. An attempt was made to determine whether parents, when teaching their children to read at home, rely on the issues that are covered in kindergarten, whether they have their own materials, or perhaps it is only a form of “teaching” children and the main teacher is the kindergarten teacher.