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Ask a Librarian with Julie Chavez

Maya Smart Addresses America’s Literacy Crisis

Season 2, Ep. 9

If reading is fuel for children as they grow, then Maya Smart has handed you a can of gas with her new book Reading for Our Lives: A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six. Maya is an author and literacy advocate, and her book is an essential tool for all new parents. She and Julie talk about building literacy at an early age, the importance of spaced learning, and the ways that parents can build easy habits into their days that will benefit the rapidly growing brains of their children. Maya stresses the urgency of our nationwide literacy crisis (especially as an increased level of sophistication is required to be effectively literate), but she also emphasizes that parents and caregivers have agency to help get our young people back on track. Even as a mom of older kids, Julie grabbed some fresh perspective on intentional conversation with surly teenagers.

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