10 - Reading Nation Waterfall: Building Book Ecosystems and Improving Inclusive Access to Libraries for Native American Children and Families

Reading Nation Waterfall (RNW) is a $1.4 million IMLS grant spanning three years to enhance literacy access for Native American communities. Collaborating with Head Start Centers and Little Free Library organization, RNW has built early children's literacy community book ecosystems and networks at elementary schools and tribal and public libraries targeting five tribal groups - Yurok, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian, Lumbee, Northern Cheyenne, and Santo Domingo Pueblo. This session will explore RNW’s hypothesis that providing 25 books to rising kindergarteners will improve literacy scores; and discuss Year 1 and 2 achievements, Year 3 goals, and encountered challenges. Attendees can contribute via interactive polling and access a toolkit for building book ecosystems featuring workflows, activities, and evaluation metrics. Guidance on joining the Little Free Library Indigenous Library Program, offering donated book-sharing boxes and collections, will also be provided. This initiative encourages culturally responsive library services and collaboration with tribal communities.