Appleton Ready to Read Initiative
“It worries me when I see budget cuts because I don’t think that there are a lot of city funders who understand the value of libraries, who understand that we’re much more than our books and our programs. That if you give us the funding and the time to do bigger things and be out and involved in the community to help solve community problems, we can do that.” – Tanya Misselt
Meet Tanya Misselt. Tanya shares Hispanic heritage in her blood as her father was from Peru. Prior to working in libraries, Tanya spent over eleven years in law enforcement. Most of her experience was in patrol, but the last three years she spent in sensitive crime, child abuse and sexual assault investigation. Additionally, she dedicated some of her work time as a Hmong Liaison Officer where she developed a sensitivity to Hmong families and their culture. At the end of Tanya’s career in law enforcement, she was feeling burnt out and ready for something different. Her pursuit in librarianship came after the joy of reading to her children. And so her professional story in libraries begins.
Tanya is currently the Library Director for River Falls Public Library in Wisconsin. She was the Children Services Supervisor for the Appleton Public Library in Wisconsin prior to that. During her time at the Appleton Public Library, she designed and implemented a progressive, unconventional outreach initiative titled Appleton Ready to Read (ARTR) in efforts to raise the reading scores of Hmong and Hispanic students in the Fox Cities.
ARTR was created as a result of the Leading Indicator for Excellence (LIFE) study conducted by United Way of Fox Cities. In 2011, the LIFE study found that third grade reading scores had declined every year since 2006. Among those with declining reading scores, 36% were Asian and 38% were English language learners, predominately Hmong and Hispanic. Since library staff and community leaders knew literacy skills developed earlier than third grade, it made sense to target Hmong and Hispanic families with children between the ages of birth to five. Its model is based on the initiative, Every Child Ready to Read, which brings strategies that caregivers can use to develop their child’s early literacy skills at home.
Grant funding allowed for the hiring two outreach specialists, one from the Hmong community and one from the Hispanic community. Thanks to Tanya, both positions have now become permanent, full-time library positions through the city of Appleton. Both outreach specialists continue to educate families on the importance of building early literacy skills through parent-child interactive practices of reading, writing, singing, talking, and playing. There are three components to the initiative:
Home Visit
Outreach specialists meet with families in their homes to provide free books and educational information on the benefits of reading and writing with their children as well as the stages of their child’s brain development.
Library Visit
Outreach specialists meet with families at the library to discuss library programming and resources. Families receive a tour of the Children Services section along with free music CDs and information on the benefits of singing and talking with their children.
Play and Learn Program
Families attend a children’s program called Play & Learn, where outreach specialists incorporate early literacy practices to discuss the benefits of dramatic and imaginary play as well as social-emotional skills.
ARTR’s goal is to better prepare Hmong and Hispanic children for school readiness and lifelong learning. The impact that it has made on Hmong and Hispanic families throughout the Fox Cities began with Tanya’s resilient leadership. Since 2014, outreach specialists have served more than 250 Hmong and Hispanic families, and they continue to serve these families through building inclusive programs, connecting them to community resources, and empowering them in ways of self-sufficiency. The Appleton Public Library continues to re-examine the needs of underserved families in their community as demographics diversify and needs change with time.
To learn more about the design of ARTR, tune into this podcast episode with Tanya Misselt. Tanya shares her unfiltered thoughts on challenges of designing a progressive model and making initially granted-funded positions permanent. If you have any questions, you may contact her at tmisselt@riverfallslibrary.org.