You're never too young to enjoy a good book that is the philosophy behind new workshops being offered on the Island aimed at helping to introduce young children to reading.

"The idea of 'Every Child Read to Read' (ECRR) is to take children from birth to five years old and introduce them to books and reading," said organiser James Agee, a member of Library Association of Bermuda (LAB) and the head librarian at the Bermuda College.

The workshops for parents, teachers and librarians will be led by Susan Bard, an early literacy consultant from the United States, and according to Mr. Agee: "Susan Bard is a very good trainer and presenter. She is very lively and active.

"A lifelong passion for literacy and enthusiasm to build reading skills in young children inspired her to educate parents, caregivers, and library staff about early literacy."

Ms Bard is currently a consultant for the Public Library Association (PLA), among other places and as the Early Literacy Coordinator for the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL), Ms Bard delivered children's programmes for all 16 of BCPL's branches and the Read Rover, a mobile unit dedicated to providing library services to childcare facilities.

Ms Bard was in Bermuda last year to teach a similar ECRR workshop for teachers. This time around her previous students will return for an advanced workshop.

"At the advanced workshop those folks who did some training in December will talk about what they have been doing since the first workshop," said Mr. Agee.

"We're excited to have Ms Bard back and to come full-circle with this project.

"After she leaves we should have enough people in Bermuda trained to do this, so that we won't need to bring a trainer back."

Ms Bard's newly trained students will teach parents in the community methods to encourage literacy from birth.

"These would include allowing children to play with books, and reading aloud to them," said Mr. Agee. "It is about creating a positive experience."

Mr. Agee said he sat through some of her workshops and learned a lot, even though he has no children of his own.

"For example, one suggestion was to always make reading a positive experience," he said. "If a child is squirming and doesn't want to read, put the book away and come back later. It is negative if you say, 'you will read this now!'

He said another suggestion for parents was to always read the title of a book and author before beginning a story.

"That way the child gets to know that people write books," said Mr. Agee. "And that books have names. They make that conceptual bridge.

"It is a matter of keeping it real and positive. Ask a lot of questions when you are reading with your child. 'What is that animal on the leaf?' 'Is it sunny or rainy?' Ask open ended questions. They might come up with a story on their own, but that's okay."

He said that even if your baby is just chewing on a book rather than reading it, it still helps to create intimacy with reading for the child.

"It doesn't have to be a set number of hours, but you need to be reading to your kids as often as possible," Mr. Agee said.

"Susan has some statistics on how a teenager's vocabulary increases dramatically if they have been read to constantly. Their vocabulary is much greater than teenagers who haven't been read to."

Mr. Agee came to Bermuda about a year ago to work at the Bermuda College. He helped to start LAB.

"There was an organisation previously but it had become defunct," said Mr. Agee. "We want people to know that LAB is now up and running, and doing things in the community."

Mr. Agee previously worked at the University of Eastern Colorado for several years.

"It is beautiful in Colorado, but I prefer sand to snow," he said.

His mother was a nurse and his father was a counsellor.

"Growing up my parents really encouraged us to read," he said. "They read to us a lot.

"I still keep a storage unit in the United States with a set of books that are 50 or 60 years old. They have beautiful illustrations and they have stories from around the world.

"I have three sisters and we are all readers, although we enjoy different subjects."

Workshops at Bermuda College include an ECRR classroom applications workshop on May 6 from 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., an ECRR story time applications workshop on May 7 from 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. and an ECRR Advanced Training workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 9.

The workshops are being sponsored by the Reading Clinic, the Coalition for the Protection of Children, the Women's Resource Centre, and Teen Services/Teen Haven.

For more information about the ECRR workshops or LAB contact Mr. Agee at jagee@college.bm or telephone 239-4034.