The library is more than just books, and our Books and Beyond series with Milwaukee Public Library showcases just that. We share resources, book recommendations, and some cool stuff you might not know about. For this edition of Books and Beyond, we’re learning about an early literacy program called ABC Academy offered at the Central Library Branch. 

This program hopes to help fill Milwaukee’s literacy gap. Since 2009, our public-school literacy rates have fallen, and just this year MPS launched a new plan to try to turn these rates around. The library’s ABC Academy program is for young readers to help with kindergarten readiness. The program goes beyond your typical story time and focuses on different activities to help build on letter recognition.  

To share more, Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski is joined by Central Library children’s room librarian Erin Sloan and Milwaukee artist Wave Chapelle – who's here today as a dad helping his son learn to read.