Bringing Libraries and Schools Together

School-Age BLAST is a long-standing partnership between Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP) and Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) focused on serving kindergarten through fifth grade students through literacy-based programs.

There are three goals of the School-Age BLAST program.

• Provide programming that models current educational best practices in literacy.

The Library’s School-Age BLAST programs facilitate interactive read-alouds of age-appropriate, culturally responsive texts—both narrative and informational—to help children develop vocabulary and higher-level thinking skills as well as model best practices for teachers and caregivers.

• Spread knowledge of the Library’s resources

The School-Age BLAST team provides PPS classrooms with access to CLP resources and services including registering students for library cards, exposing students to technology that connects them to physical and virtual library resources and arranging field trips to neighborhood library locations.

• Foster positive attitudes towards literacy.

The School-Age BLAST team works closely with PPS teachers and students to visit classrooms and share the joy of reading!

To learn more about School-Age BLAST check out the blog posts below or contact us at blast@carnegielibrary.org.