The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) offer professional development training in the form of online modules, that have been adapted from in person training. Training is available for all Queensland library staff that will deliver First 5 Forever programs in their libraries. As a recently employed librarian in a public library I am eager to participate in all professional development that is on offer and develop my skills to serve my community to the best of my capabilities.

First 5 Forever is a family literacy program that promotes early literacy and connects families to the library. The universal program is a free non-targeted program does not require children or families to meet specific eligibility criteria. First 5 Forever is available and accessible for everyone.

First 5 Forever promotes literacy foundation through: Talk, Read, Sing, Play.

Focused on engaging families from birth, the program has shifted from a performative, entertaining model to a facilitation model. Facilitation increases parent and caregiver participation through shared resources, building parent confidence to continue practicing these skills with their child. The activities are designed to be able to do anywhere at anytime to positively impact on the child’s early literacy: talk, play, sing and read.

The program consisted of three modules that took 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete and followed the below structure.

Module 1:

• What is first 5 forever?
• Why is first five forever important?
• Why libraries?

Module 2:

•  What is early literacy?
• Early literacy skills
• Incorporating early literacy skills into the first 5 forever program

Module 3:

• Introduction
• Planning
• Session content
• Key messaging
• Closing linking and follow up
• Putting it into practice
• The end (or just the beginning)

I found that module 3 was extremely rewarding due to the practical skills outlined in planning and delivering an informative and enjoyable First 5 Forever program. Planning a program that includes repetition and focuses on a skill that develops literacy:

• Print motivation: Pretend to read and write, ask for a story, ask to share a story, enjoy reading
• Oral language skills: Vocabulary, understand, articulate comprehension.
• Narrative skill: Understand a story, retell a story, recognise a story has a beginning, middle and end.
• Phonological awareness: Ability to recognise words and manipulate particular parts of words or sentences.

As a mother to two children under 5 I am personally passionate and invested in early literacy. Now as a librarian I appreciate how important the role of the library is in delivering early literacy to the community. Libraries remain the only government-funded agency available to children from birth offering free around the year access to literacy resources and services. On a side note, I was actually extremely happy to learn that there is 320 public libraries in QLD vs. 199 McDonalds and 99% of the population in QLD can access the first 5 forever program.