At Duncan Lake Early Childhood Center in Caledonia, preschool teachers Robin Trocinski and Trisha Scott have uncovered a valuable educational resource that extends beyond the confines of their classrooms: the Kent District Library (KDL).
The childhood center is a hub for various early childhood initiatives, housing a range of programs aimed at the community’s youngest learners, including the Early Childhood Special Education programs and Start to Readiness Program (GSRP).
“It’s a unique building,” says Trocinski, who has been teaching for over 20 years, with 12 of them at Duncan Lake. “We also have the YMCA child care and host Bright Beginning Play Groups here. It’s a dynamic environment that requires equally dynamic resources.”
These resources, she discovered, are abundantly available through KDL. But Trocinski, who lives in Hastings and holds a library card from Freeport, initially faced challenges in accessing books for her classroom.
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Courtesy Duncan Lake Early Childhood CenterDuncan Lake Early Childhood Center preschool teacher Robin Trocinski.
Teacher card ‘a game changer’
"It was difficult to get the right books until I spoke with a librarian who mentioned the teacher library card," she recalled. "That card has been a game changer for me, allowing access to KDL’s vast literature collection, which I absolutely love."
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Courtesy Duncan Lake Early Childhood CenterDuncan Lake Early Childhood Center preschool teacher Robin Trocinski.
KDL’s teacher library card allows teachers to borrow a larger number of items, access special collections, and have extended borrowing periods. This flexibility is crucial for educators who often need to plan lessons weeks in advance and require various materials to engage their students effectively. KDL also offers a Book Club in a Bag service for classroom projects.
The benefits of KDL resources extend beyond just borrowing books. Every year at Duncan Lake’s annual literacy festival, the staff collaborates closely with KDL, which brings the library’s resources directly to the students and their families. The building-wide initiative features literacy-based, hands-on activities in every classroom and is open to the entire community.
“We completely revamp our rooms so that when the kids come in, they can engage in different activities in each classroom,” explains Trocinski. “We also have a book giveaway and a snack room, all tied to a theme. Last year, it was sports, and we even had the bookmobile come in so parents could get library cards for their children.”
Scott, who has been teaching for a decade, with three of those years at Duncan Lake, recently discovered the possibility of accessing Scholastic materials through KDL, which she is eager to explore further.
"I know they have a lot of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) activities, and I want to find out how many of those we can check out and bring over here," she said. "It’s one of those things that I would like to look further into as well and just find out beyond the books, what more we can utilize."
Scott also taps into KDL’s resources. Unlike Trocinski, Scott uses her personal library account, but she still finds KDL’s offerings invaluable.
“Sometimes we share their monthly activity list with our parents as resources," Scott explains. "Before COVID, we also collaborated on special reading programs during the winter."
Both Trocinski and Scott say their partnership with KDL has allowed them to broaden their curriculum and provide a richer, more diverse learning experience.
Resources for educators and students
Johanna Boyle, collection development librarian at KDL, highlights the extensive online resources available for students and teachers:
- Scholastic Teachables: Offers printable worksheets, activities, and booklets to support learning in all elementary school subjects.
- CultureGrams and CultureGrams Kids: Provide detailed reports and insights on daily life in countries around the world.
- Learning Express Library: Available through the state of Michigan, this resource supports skill development in math and language arts, career assessment, and standardized test preparation, from the ACT to the American Citizenship Test.
- LinkedIn Learning: Offers courses to help high school, college, and adult learners brush up on technical and career skills or learn something new. It is available in English and Spanish, including courses on artificial intelligence.
“One of our most popular online resources is our language learning tools,” Boyle says. “We offer Mango Languages and Rosetta Stone, both of which provide practice and instruction in a wide range of world languages. These platforms cater to different learning styles, so if one doesn’t seem like a good fit for you, try the other one. We also offer access to ASLDeafined, a unique resource developed by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community to teach and learn American Sign Language.”
Boyle believes these resources are popular because they offer comprehensive practice across all areas of language learning, from reading to speaking to listening.
“KDL definitely offers a big range of resources, so if you aren’t sure what would best fit your needs, talk to a staff member. We’re happy to chat and work through what resource might do the thing you need it to do,” Boyle says.
A full list of KDL’s online resources can be found at
kdl.org/resource.
Keeping resources accessible
Sara Magnuson, branch outreach and programming specialist at KDL, emphasizes the library’s efforts to make its resources accessible and easy to use.
“Kent District Library has so many amazing ways to help students and teachers, through both physical materials and online resources,” Magnuson says. “We are constantly assessing our website and user experiences to ensure that these resources are highlighted for their specific audiences and easy to use.”
Magnuson says the KDL website,
kdl.org, is designed to guide users to the resources they need. Its drop-down menu filters KDL resources into different groupings with quick links by format, age, special collections, and online resources. The age-based pages highlight the best resources for young children, school-age students, and teens, including early literacy activities, book lists, STEM-based videos, and upcoming events.
“KDL is here to support our teachers and students,” Magnuson says. “We reach out at the beginning of every school year to remind teachers of the amazing resources at Kent District Library and invite them to visit the library or arrange for a librarian to visit their classroom.”
Literacy Matters is a series focused on the importance of knowledge, community resources seeking to remove barriers to access, and the value of our library systems to society. Literacy Matters is supported by Kent District Library.