Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Childhood Literacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Library staff outline Begin Bridal pilot and research plan with Peabody partnership
Summary
Library staff and partners described Begin Bridal (Bringing Books to Life) — a citywide early-literacy initiative — outlining pilot rollouts, two research cohorts, and a timeline that begins pilot implementation in late May and a first research cohort in August; foundation fundraising was reported to have raised an initial $20 million.
Linda and Liz, program leads, updated the board on Begin Bridal, the library’s Bringing Books to Life early-literacy initiative, including research and rollout plans and partner fundraising.
Linda said the library will recruit childcare centers for two research cohorts and a pilot implementation cohort. Dr. Cynthia Osborne and the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Peabody will lead the evaluation. Linda explained the approach: a pilot implementation of about 10 sites beginning in late May; cohort 1 (research) will launch in August with roughly 11 implementation sites and 11 control sites; cohort 2 will follow in August 2026. The plan includes pre- and post-tests and child-level assessments of pre-literacy skills, plus teacher and parent focus groups.
Sean, representing the library foundation, reported fundraising progress: “We started in February of 2024. We ended up raising our initial 20,000,000 inside 11 months.” He said the foundation’s stated long-term goal is to build an endowment to sustain the program.
Why it matters: Begin Bridal aims to place small libraries, curriculum kits and a digital learning platform in early-childhood settings across the city. The planned research cohorts are designed to test implementation quality and student outcomes and to inform wider rollout to all 400 childcare centers in Nashville.
Research and selection details: Dr. Osborne’s team will recruit centers that are not extremely large or extremely small; sites such as MNPS or Head Start will not be included in the research cohorts because of existing resources and structured curricula, though they remain eligible for other program services. The research cohort will target sites with 3- and 4-year-old classrooms. Staff said recruitment for cohort sites should be complete by June.
Timeline and deliverables: pilot implementation in late May; cohort 1 in August (school year start) with pretests and post-tests and child-level assessments by Dr. Osborne’s team; preliminary results from cohort 1 expected fall 2026; cohort 2 results expected fall 2027 with full reports to follow.
Staffing and funding: Linda said work continues to hire a literacy coach and to coordinate fundraising. Sean said the foundation raised an initial $20 million and will continue fundraising to create an endowment. Staff said some implementation components have been scaled back pending additional funding but that coaching for partner staff and lower-cost project implementations remain possible.
Ending: Board members expressed enthusiasm and requested future updates as cohorts are recruited and as preliminary findings emerge.
