In December of 2012 Middle County Public Library received a 3-year IMLS IMLS National Leadership Demonstration Grant - Family Place Libraries(tm): A Model for Institutional Change that included 28 partner libraries and five of these are located here in Michigan. Farmington Community Library Grand Rapids Public Library Kalamazoo Public Library Orion Township Public Library Rochester Hills Public Library The first year of this grant was designed to build a strong foundation by enhancing skills of children's services staff and enriching the internal culture of the Library relative to early childhood and family centered services. Attached you can find a FAQ on Family Place Libraries. The Family Place Libraries (tm) initiative promotes a national model for transforming public libraries into welcoming, developmentally appropriate early learning environments for very young children, their parents and caregivers. Based on research about the importance of early brain development, the Family Place Library supports the essential role of parents as first teachers and addresses the physical, social, emotional and cognitive aspects of child development to help build a foundation for learning during the critical first years of life. By partnering and working with other social, health and educational services providers, the Family Place model aims to ensure that all children enter school ready and able to learn and positions libraries as key early childhood and family support organizations within the local community. For more information visit http://www.familyplacelibraries.org/ or http://www.imls.gov/imls_announces_2.5_million_to_support_early_learning.aspx?CategoryId=1&F_All=y or contact a colleague at one of the libraries listed above. Shannon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shannon D. White Continuing Education Coordinator Library of Michigan 702 West Kalamazoo, P.O. Box 30007, Lansing, MI 48909-7507 Ph: 517-373-9489; Fax: 517-373-5700 Toll free: 877-479-0021 whites29@michigan.gov<mailto:whites29@michigan.gov> http://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan