Washington is redesigning its early learning strategy for the first time in ten years. That means looking across the vast network of factors that influence what kids experience before they start kindergarten and right after. Child care, preschool, yes to all of that — but also food, housing, health care, family dynamics. Where and how do kids learn to learn? Where and how do kids learn to learn — if their parents both work long hours, if the family doesn't speak the same language as the local child care, if they live two hours from the nearest preschool?

Cue the public library.

Susan Anderson-Newham is Pierce County Library's Early Learning Supervising Librarian. In the early 2000s, she was "just" a librarian. It was a pivotal period, she says, with rapid advances in neuroscience that changed how people thought about kids' brains. Pierce County Library had a program to deliver books to local child care centers, but "they felt there were so many ways they could connect better with the community."

Anderson-Newham has been leading Pierce County's early learning initiatives since then. Since she joined the team, the number of story times has blossomed, with more than 20 every month; childcare centers have access to a formal, managed collection from which they can order on-site delivery; and Anderson-Newham and her team create microcollections on request: picture books with nonbinary or gender-fluid characters, books about kids in foster care, books about kids who aren't sleeping at home. "The program grew in fits and starts," she says, "but we're doing some amazing stuff."

That "amazing stuff" is supercharged with data. In 2010, the University of Washington started researching storytime — formally, with control groups for "traditional" storytime and other groups testing new methods. When Anderson-Newham first started, "it was the Susan show — the curtain would go up, and I would do everything. I would read the books, I would do the rhymes, and I would sing the songs, and then the curtain would go down. I don't think they were learning very much."

Learning from books is about more than learning what's in books, and today, storytime is full of interaction. A professional storyteller and former actress, Anderson-Newham relies on movement, song, repetition — whatever transforms a story into something more: "When I'm reading a book, and I run my finger along the page of the book;hellip;we're actually showing them that in English, we read from left to right." One book offers a chance to talk about math; another is strong on preschool science.

Part of the job is helping other educators think about books in the same way she does, and it's easy to hear how much Anderson-Newham loves her work when she talks about her favorite stories. From stories that unfold through cut paper or a bit of string to popup books that are "just absolutely riveting," her voice brightens. There's also a bit of loss. She brings a copy of The Undefeated to a meeting, so people can see it; "that's where the power is," she says," but "we don't have very many bookstores any more."

Anderson-Newham is very aware of the cultural responsibility that rests on the library's shoulders. "We want books that that everybody sees themselves in. And books that show people who are different. We call them mirror books and window books." And she's aware, also, of the power of story _as _story: "I like to have door books, too — books that open up a whole new world. I was not a reader as a child; my sister was the reader. When I was in eighth grade, she gave me a copy of the The Hobbit, and it completely changed me.

The role of the public library is always evolving; since public perception doesn't always keep up, it's also Anderson-Newham's job to be visible wherever the library needs to be seen. That means sitting on panels, joining coalitions, and partnering up with other organizations, like the United Way. The "Little Readers" program that came out of that particular partnership sends "story time in a bag" out with trained volunteers to visit kids who are in child care at someone's home — places that are too small for most programs to reach.

Anderson-Newham's job can be challenging. There's not a lot of money for libraries; there's not a lot of money for early learning. There's a lot to know about child development, and it's constantly evolving. But then there's this — at a recent panel, a woman asked Anderson-Newham, "Did you use to work at the Auburn Library?" And when she confirmed, the woman said:

Oh, my God, I had a boy. He was four and he had been severely abused. And we were working with him and I was starting to try to take him out into community to meet people and socialize a little bit, because he just was really frightened and very sad. And you read a book called Mrs. Macintosh Hangs Up Her Wash. And that was the first time I saw him smile.

It's not getting any easier for kids, from preschool on up. The current political climate is a cloud over everyone. "There's more bullying. There's more division," says Anderson-Newham. "There's a lot of ugly things being said to people and children. And then of course, you know, if you don't know if your family is going to be intact at the end of the evening — what we try to create with our library spaces are places where children and families can find comfort."

And places where families can find resources, for example, if they're not sure that their child is developing typically. That's part of early learning, too. You can even "book a librarian," which is possibly the best idea ever.

"Librarians are amazing," says Anderson-Newham. "They really are: people who want the world to be better. And in this day and age, that's a really lovely group of people to work with."