Panel urges early-family engagement, libraries and community action to boost 0'to'5 literacy

First Lady Abby Cox moderated a panel focused on families and early childhood development that emphasized the 0'to'5 period as critical for literacy development. Dr. Sydney Dixon said the most important home practice is shared reading and building vocabulary through everyday talk: "Shared reading is number 1 thing we can do with young children," she said.

Dr. Claire Sun and other early-childhood experts urged pragmatic supports: model reading, normalize literacy in multiple languages and use simple, developmentally appropriate routines. "Even if parents have low resources or low education, the everyday activities they do with children are powerful," Sun said.

Tammy Austin of the Salt Lake County Library System described libraries as a practical community resource and urged families to use story times and take advantage of free books and programming. She said libraries can reduce parental burden and modeled the five simple early-literacy practices: talk, sing, read, write and play. Panelists pointed to programs and community campaigns (including a local "5 before 5" media effort) as ways to push early-literacy messaging into everyday life.

What happens next: Panelists asked policymakers and philanthropies to expand access to books and library programming, invest in early-intervention outreach and coordinate community-based campaigns to reach families before children start school.