The Early Learning Partnership of York County

The Early Learning Partnership of York County is a county-wide initiative to ensure that all children enter school ready to learn through early literacy programs.

ELP is working to ensure that young children in York County are ready to learn in school and in life. By mobilizing people, leveraging resources, and empowering social, emotional, and early literacy programs, ELP is preparing children, birth to age five, for school success. Reading with a preschool child is the single most important activity to prepare a child for school, that’s the ELP message. To help make this possible, we have numerous literacy programs to support York County children.

Wee Read at PMC: When newborn babies require treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Piedmont Medical Center, their parents are often overwhelmed and find it hard to interact with them. Encourages parents with babies in the NICU to talk and read to their child to promote skin-to-skin bonding and provides a blanket and book with reading tips.

Reach Out and Read: Provides new, developmentally and age-appropriate books for each child from birth to age five during each well-child visit, while offering guidance and tips from the pediatrician to the parents, and “prescribing” reading on a daily basis. A national, evidence-based program encouraging early literacy skills through the medical environment.

Community Book Giveaways: ELP recognizes the lack of access to books for some children.  Working with community partners, ELP provides books in non-traditional sites such as laundromats, barbershops, Little Free Libraries, and summer feeding programs, to name a few.