Staff from the Beaverton Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Self Sufficiency and Oregon Eligibility Partnership programs, as well as some community volunteers, recently held a "book party.”

The party wasn’t the kind of party that’s about food, drinks and dancing. It was more about placing stickers in 980 books for pre-Kindergarten children. The Washington County Early Learning Hub donated the books as well as three new bookcases. The stickers provided information about Washington County Early Learning Hub resources for children and families. Community Partnership Coordinators, Kaylie Camp and Aubrey Stark, along with Oregon Eligibility Supervisor, Callie Herzig, led the stickering event. It included 10 volunteers from Just Create Community.

The books will be shared with two other ODHS Washington County offices, Tigard and Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency as well as in the ODHS Mobile Van.

Angela Day, Operations and Policy Analyst for the Self-Sufficiency and Child Welfare programs coordinated the books and bookshelves donation with the Washington County Early Learning Hub,

“Community engagement is important. We are working hard to engage with our community. One of the ways we are doing this is by having items available we can give out to families. Serving families and bringing literacy to children is beneficial for our community,” Day said.

Sandra Garcia Fresh, Operations and Policy Analyst; for Self-Sufficiency and Child Welfare programs also participated in the stickering event.

“The books create a more welcoming environment. Sometimes our offices all look the same. We have welcoming murals on the walls now, why not extend it to books. What’s better than having books available to read in your own language,” she said.

The books come in a variety of languages including: Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Pashto, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. There are also a variety of cultures represented in the books.

“Families wait for services in our lobby with their children. These books provide entertainment for young children. Parents can use them to interact with their kids while waiting. All this further promotes literacy for children in Oregon. By having books available in multiple languages, we are enhancing accessibility for more families in our community. Over the last year, we have taken steps to make our offices more family oriented and trauma informed, this is another way for us to do that and build relationships with the community members that we serve. My stepmom always said “reading is a window into the world. If you learn to read, you can do anything” Callie Herzig, Oregon Eligibility Supervisor, said.

Begoña Rodriguez Liern is the Director of the Early Learning Washington County Hub (ELWC), which donated the books and bookshelves. The hubs are designated to create an efficient early learning system to ensure that all children, from prenatal to age eight, receive the necessary opportunities and supports for success in school. ELWC used Birth through Five funds to support this initiative.

“Serving the diverse population from Washington County required some digging to get the books we wanted on specific topics such as inclusion, and STEAM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math). It is important for ELWC to support the children’s process around language acquisition as well as supporting the preservation of their native language. We also wanted to gussy up the offices, so they’d look more family-friendly, so we decided to give those spaces a lift up,” Rodriguez Liern said.