Eliza Dresang, Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services, was part of a ground-breaking study on early childhood literacy. Dresang, along with doctoral student Katie Campana, a team of six Pierce County librarians and 31 local day cares, studied how early learning is affected when preschoolers are taught by child care workers who have proper literacy training. They found what librarians have long suspected -- young kids progress faster when the adults who look after them are more confident and competent with reading skills.

The results have led the Pierce County Library System to expand its pre-literacy outreach. You can read more about this study in the Tacoma News Tribune.