Putting books in the hands of children

Alma Gomez understands the importance of reading to her 3-year-old daughter, Ashley. But her pay as a grocery store cashier barely covers the basics, let alone all the books she would like to buy.

That’s why the Westside Children’s Center “backpack library” program is such a hit. Every week, Gomez gets to take home a backpack filled with books, drawing materials and other supplies when she picks her daughter up from the Los Angeles day-care provider contracted by the center. The program for tots provides parents like Gomez with a rotation of books that they can keep for five school days and read at home.

“It’s helping me and her,” said Gomez, 28, who came to Los Angeles from Mexico 14 years ago. “She recognizes pictures of balls, tables, balloons. Sometimes I learn, too.”

The books were purchased with part of a $10,000 grant this year from the Los Angeles Times Family Fund. The fund’s annual Holiday Campaign supports programs for children and families at a number of local nonprofits.

Since its founding in 1987, the Westside Children’s Center in Culver City has provided foster care and reunification services to infants and children 8 and younger who have been abused or neglected.

Over time, the agency expanded to include other disadvantaged children and families, providing child care and adoption services, as well as child development and family support services. The center, which receives some state funding but also depends on private donations, serves families living in poverty in western Los Angeles.

Six years ago, the center moved from its longtime home in four trailers to a new $6-million facility that is licensed for 100 children ages 18 months to 5 years. Most of the children come from low-income Latino families that cannot afford to pay for preschool.

In addition, the center contracts with about 40 licensed providers, who care for more than 200 youngsters in homes throughout the area.

This year’s grant enabled the center to buy books for its seven classrooms and a new lending library, decorated with help from a local Girl Scout troop. The volumes, many in Spanish, include classics by Dr. Seuss, fairy tales, the Junie B. Jones series, Dora the Explorer stories and books that teach children about counting, shapes, colors and words.

Some of the parents have no books at home, said Rosa Arevalo, Westside’s director of early care and education services. The center tries to fill that gap. Part of the parents’ responsibility is to record what words their children learn from the books and how they respond to the material.

“The research is pretty clear about the importance of parents reading to children,” said Richard Cohen, the center’s executive director. “It’s one thing to talk to parents about how important it is. It’s another to be able to make that happen.”

Cohen said the backpacks -- some purchased by the center and others by day-care providers -- make the children feel as if they’re in school. “They really beat the Ziploc bags we used to use,” he said.

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