Mellisa Hannum
Children's Early Literacy Program
INFO 269-10: Early Childhood Literacy
Professor Beth Wrenn-Estes
San Jose State University
​November 22, 2021

The Grass Valley Library is one of five branches of the Nevada County Community Library in Northern California. Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the town was established during the Gold Rush. It includes a culture based on the Cornish miners who settled in the area as well as the local indigenous population of Nisenan who had lived along the many river watersheds for generations. The population of Grass Valley is less than 13,000, and the local Carnegie library serves its community in a downtown location built in 1906. Once the veterans hall, the downstairs area of the library is now dedicated to the children and teen patrons of the community. Funded through Measure A tax dollars, part of the Nevada County Library's mission is to provide children and teen programming and to keep materials and services current so the budget for services is generous. Early literacy is a major component of the children's programming offered at the Grass Valley Library. Grass Valley is home to a larger portion of the food insecure and income insecure population of the area, so the library holds the important role of creating an environment where people from all walks of life can gain access to education and support. Many of the programs listed on the following pages were created or continued by the current Youth Services Librarian and are already quite successful and sought-after by the local patrons.