Introduction

Literacy, language and communication skills are vital in society today and an early introduction to literacy through a breadth of experiences of rhymes, stories, pictures and books supports these skills. The first edition of Delivering the Best Start: a guide to early years libraries, published in 2009, was one of our first collaborations as researchers and co-authors. The Preface to this notes ‘We want to help early years librarians find a voice in promoting and sharing their own professional experiences and expertise – that is, how they develop and provide services that support young children and their families. This may often be achieved by working in partnership with others.’

This new title, Library Services from Birth to Five: delivering the best start, moves information, knowledge and ideas further forward and adds important new voices to the message. Experienced practitioners share their knowledge about strategies to maximize access to services and the book considers how young children and their families will be provided with relevant and accessible services, resources and programmes. This is an edited book, with invited contributions from nationally and internationally known practitioners and Library and Information Service (LIS) academics. The hand-picked team of contributors has meant that we have been able to capitalize on the knowledge, expertise and wide experience of the authors, who are innovators, researchers and respected practitioners in their own right.

Because we are based in the UK and have a greater awareness of developments and political drivers within the UK, the chapters we have contributed as editors tend to focus on examples and case studies from these shores. For our overseas readers we hope that this is balanced by the quantity and quality of international contributions in the other chapters and country case studies. As with the first book, this revised and expanded edition would not have been possible without practitioners, parents and families also sharing their knowledge and providing rich examples. We have capitalized on their experiences – taking advantage of shared episodes from professional and family lives. The case studies, scenarios and vignettes, drawn from UK and international sources, show that the key issues have an international dimension.