"The traditional assumption in providing public library services for young children is that one parent is available during the day in order to (at the very least) transport the child to the library, and (at best) actively participate with the child in the library program," begins Frances A Smardo's article "Public Library Services for Young Children in Day Care and Their Caregivers" written almost 15 years ago, in l986. Unfortunately, such assumptions still exist in many libraries today.

According to the government publication Start Early Finish Strong, "Six in ten children spend a substantial part of each day in the care of someone other than a parent" and "Six in ten babies are not read to regularly" (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Statistics; Davis, and Schoen, 1996, respectively, as cited in Start Early, Finish Strong, 1999). Yet, programs for very young children, such as Mother Goose programs for infants in libraries, are often structured so that they are available to only a very small portion of the population and, thus, will reach only a few of the children and caregivers who could benefit from the service, perhaps missing those who most need it. Librarians who can reach infants and caregivers in settings other than the library, those in day care centers, for example, will bring developmentally appropriate literacy activities, to many children.

Training Caregivers
Recognizing that the majority of young children in the United States have mothers who work outside the home (Greene, 1991, p. 77), some librarians have begun to serve those children and adults who are "'beyond the privileged class'" (Segel & Friedberg,1991). Cathleen S. Soundy, discussing the needs of very young children in daycare settings, suggests that "as more and more mothers of infants and toddlers enter the work force. . . all child care providers should strive to replicate effective home practices and create favorable conditions for developmentally appropriate literacy events" (1997, p. 153). Librarians who offer Mother Goose programs for infants in their libraries have the skills and knowledge to help model these developmentally appropriate activities for child care providers. In Books, Babies, and Libraries, Ellin Greene discusses the opinions of Anne Carlson who supports "librarians placing their efforts on training caregivers in storytelling techniques and in materials selection," for Greene says, although "children's librarians differ in philosophy about this, ...changing demographics may support an outreach approach" (1991, p. 77).

Circulating Kits
One popular method of reaching children in daycare situations is to provide circulating kits of materials, as well as some instruction on their use, to the caregivers in daycare centers and daycare homes. For example, Project LEAP (Library Educational Alternative for Preschoolers) provides these kits for centers in Cuyahoga County Ohio (Rome, 1989). An obvious problem with this approach to expanding the audience for a group Mother Goose program is the need for one-on-one adult-to-child interaction, especially with pre-walkers, and one-on-one attention may not be possible in group settings with poor staff/child ratios. Caregivers can, of course, reach children one-on-one in non-group activities.

Taking Mother Goose to the Children
Another way for librarians to reach the underserved is for the librarian to take himself and his Mother Goose program to places where groups of young parents and caregivers gather with their infants. "Library outreach programs are especially important for children who might not otherwise have access to any literacy experiences at all, such as homeless children and those living in public care facilities," writes Barbara N. Kupetz in "A Shared Responsibility: Nurturing Literacy in the Very Young" (1993). In "Book Babies," Sherman and Rudeen mention teen parent support groups and migrant workers and their children as groups that might benefit from programs for infants. (1989). In addition to serving babies in daycare settings, taking the Mother Goose program to parents and their infants who come regularly to clinics or institutions of any sort--those for children with AIDS and food share centers come to mind--could extend the possibilities of outreach work.

The literature on literacy services for infants offers examples of many different services beyond Mother Goose type programs. A librarian interested in promoting literacy by addressing the emergent literacy needs of the infants in her community, would need to consider the many alternatives and choose those services that would best reach and serve her individual population.