Library Foundation receives $50K grant to fund Popup Preschool program

Young children learn through play and by exploring the world around them. So the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County created the Popup Preschool pilot program for children ages 3-5 that offers a series of fun, interactive experiences with plenty of opportunity for hands-on play and learning at select branches.

The Library has partnered with the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati to develop and present this program in both the Deer Park and St. Bernard communities. A new session starts at the Deer Park Branch Oct. 7.

The Popup Preschool pilot program was funded by a $50,000 grant from the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee, through the Library Foundation. This funding allows the Library to expand the program to four locations in 2020. Also, for the 2019-20 pilot program, the Library will retain a part-time professional to create and evaluate a curriculum that focuses on the formal and informal skills the program will teach children enrolled, as well as how to better engage parents/caregivers to extend those kindergarten readiness skills outside of the program. 

“This pilot program is designed to create a formal learning experience for children and families living outside the Cincinnati Preschool Promise service area, in a safe and universally welcoming environment—a library,” said Paula Brehm-Heeger, the Evan Jane Romaine Coombe Library Director. “The Library's overall goal of the Popup Preschool Pilot program is to establish a curriculum that works for children and families that impacts kindergarten readiness outcomes.”

For more information about the Popup Preschool program, contact Lisa Soper at 513-369-7855.