If we believe the emergent literacy theory, which is based on many studies of children and their interactions with books and other literacy events, then caregivers spending time with very young children in a Mother Goose program must necessarily have a positive effect on their pre-literacy development. There are many ways to evaluate Mother Goose programs to assess this effect, some of which are discussed briefly below.

In Mother Goose Time, Jane Marino and Dorothy Houlihan provide a sample evaluation form. Their questions are clearly designed to assess whether the program has had any effect on the literacy behaviors of the caregiver and child, and resting on emergent literacy theory, assume that if the behavior improves, the child's literacy will be positively effected:

1. How did you hear about Mother Goose Time?
2. Is this the first Mother Goose Time you have attended?
3. How many sessions have you previously attended?
4. Did you repeat some of the songs or finger plays at home?
5. If your child is able to speak, did he or she talk about the program while at home?
6. If the child has older siblings, did they attend Mother Goose time? Why/Why not?
7. What did you enjoy most about the program?
8. What do you think should be eliminated from the program?
9. What do you think should be included that was not?
10. Has your child shown increased interest in books since attending Mother Goose Time?
11. How many books do you and your child share each week?
12. Has that number increased since attending Mother Goose Time?
13. How often do you visit the library other than for Mother Goose Time sessions?
14. Is another time or day more convenient for you to attend Mother Goose Time?

In Books, Babies, and Libraries, Ellin Green offers a questionnaire that is also designed to assess changes in literacy behaviors of the caregiver and the child, such as a child's interest in songs and finger plays, repetition of the Mother Goose program rhymes and activities at home, and spending more time reading or singing with the child. In addition, Greene's questionnaire collects data that will help librarians to assess whether or not caregivers found different aspects of the program "appropriate for the children," whether the number of books checked out of the library has increased as a result of the program, and whether or not they would recommend the program the program to others. Literate Beginnings, by Debbie Ann Jeffery, published by the American Library Association, presents a "modified version" of Ellin Green's questionnaire as a suggested assessment tool:

Using a form which asks caregivers to answer open ended questions is another way to collect useful data about the success of the program. Questions such as "My favorite thing about this program is..., As a result of this program, I've noticed that my child has. . ., I wish we could have had more of . . ., and I would like you to know that. . . " offer the chance to gather information about aspects of the program that are of importance to the adults attending the program.

Anecdotal evidence of the success of a program can also be recorded. Positive comments by a caregiver about using the rhymes and songs in settings other than the library, comments about children's behavior changes with regard to books and language, observations about children's growth during the Mother Goose time sessions, thank you letters from parents, and so on, are all useful data about the effects of the program.

In Output Measures for Public Library Service to Children, Virginia A. Walter suggests types of evaluation that would be appropriate for programs she puts under the heading Preschoolers Door to Learning: "Circulation of Children's Materials per Child," "Children's Library Visits per Child," "Children's Program Attendance per Child," "Turnover Rate of Children's Materials" These evaluations are presented as measures of the entire juvenile collection and population that can be "segmented" for the specific population of infants and infant materials. Walters' book provides all the necessary forms, tells exactly what data to collect, how to collect the data, how to calculate the appropriate statistics, how to interpret those statistics, and how to use them. One possible problem with some of these measures is the need to know the number of members of the population in the legal service area in order to perform the calculations. Walter says that census materials provide this number for children under five, but does not make clear whether the census figures could be broken down further in order to study the population of pre-two or pre-three-year-olds who would attend a Mother Goose program.