Books for Babies Program at Bellevue
Books for Babies at Ellis Medicine's Bellevue Woman's Center was launched in January 2023 through the Schenectady Takes Action for Reading Success (STARS) program, which is a collaborative action campaign led by SCPL to spread free and diverse children's books throughout the city while motivating parents and caregivers to talk, read, and sing more with their children from birth. Since its inception in 2017, it has distributed more than 12,000 books through grants and private donations
Through the Books for Babies initiative, Bellevue Woman’s Center will gift new parents with a STARS book to read to their child from day one. Each book also will be bilingual and will contain a list of best practices for shared reading, concrete tools for engaging in literacy-rich activities, and information on how to connect with the public library and other community agencies invested in early literacy.
Books for Babies at Bellevue is funded by the 1st National Bank of Scotia, along with longtime Ellis and Bellevue supporters Neil and Mona Golub, in memory of the late Jane Golub, with support from the Wildwood Program. SCPL is serving as the lead organization in securing funding, processing the books, and coordinating volunteers.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the first three years of life are the most intensive period for speech and language development. Reading aloud is one of the best ways to expose young children to language, while helping to build the child’s vocabulary, imagination and understanding of the world.
