WXXI's Continued Work to Support Families Through Rural Libraries

In 2021 and 2022, WXXI will continue our collaborative work to support local rural families with Sesame Street in Communities resources with support from the Waldron Rise Foundation and a gift in memory of Fay Fondiller. 

WXXI will once again work with the OWWL Libraries to continue to support our rural libraries, familes, and child care providers in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, Livingston, and Monroe counties with additional resources from Sesame Street in Communities. 

With this additional funding and support WXXI and our partners will:

• Train local families, friends, and neighbors (including child care providers, librarians, and early childhood educators) on the use of Sesame Street in Communities resources. 
• Distribute materials to rural families in our region - materials will include make-and-take activities, books, resource kits, and more.
• Support and celebrate libraries' family engagement efforts around utilizing Sesame Street in Communities resources in their local communities. 

This additional support allows WXXI and our partners to build on and extend the work that began in 2019. WXXI began collaborating with OWWL Libraries to serve rural families, educators, and early learners in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston counties as part of Sesame Street in Communities Rural Outreach Initiative. Together we celebrated Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary with special events, trained children’s librarians and other early childhood educators, and highlighted important resources from SesameStreetInCommunities.org. 

Sesame Street in Communities provides hundreds of bilingual multi-media tools to help kids and families enrich and expand their knowledge during the early years of birth through six, a critical window for brain development. Sesame Street’s resources engage kids and adults in everyday moments and daily routines—from teaching early math and literacy concepts, to encouraging families to eat nutritious foods, to serious topics such as grief and food insecurity. Through ongoing collaboration, training experiences, and local partnerships, the Sesame Street in Communities initiative evolves and helps make a difference. To learn more about WXXI's Sesame Street in Communities work, visit: wxxi.org/sesame

WXXI's local work sharing Sesame Street and Sesame Street in Communities resources is supported by a grant from the Waldron Rise Foundation and a gift in memory of Fay Fondiller.