Promoting shared reading: customer insights from early-years experts
www.nesta.org.uk/project-updates/promoting-shared-reading-customer-insights-from-early-years-experts/
www.nesta.org.uk/project-updates/promoting-shared-reading-customer-insights-from-early-years-experts/
We received feedback on TANDEM from various early-years experts and learned what factors would influence them to adopt the app into their reading services
Earlier this year (March 2024), we began working with Early Ideas Limited using their app TANDEM, a story creation app powered by generative AI, alongside parents and caregivers, early-years practitioners and private, public and third-sector organisations. TANDEM's goal is to give all children an equitable start in life by enabling them to experience the early interactions and strong relationships that will set them up for life. The app is designed to assist parents in creating an engaging reading experience with their child in their home.
As an innovation partner, we used the TANDEM app as a probe to understand what would be needed to create a high-quality, scalable and low-cost shared reading experience. Our working hypothesis was that this needed to be a stimulating, fun and tailored experience for low-income families with children under five to use at home and accessible for parents and caregivers across the UK.
This is the third update detailing the perspectives and feedback we received from early-years experts supporting families with reading at home.
In addition to parents and caregivers, we also wanted to speak to people from organisations that are in frequent contact with our priority families. We called these people ‘our experts’ and sought their perspectives to build on our understanding and include their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities towards increasing shared reading at home.
We pulled together a list of charities, nurseries and services in local authorities, such as libraries and family hubs in London and Glasgow, and then reached out individually to each organisation. Those who responded were curated and added to an interview shortlist that best represented the organisations above.
From our experts, we wanted to learn what they would need to see from the TANDEM app before considering paying for and rolling this out at scale to the communities they serve.
Our experts were invited to a 60-minute virtual interview between 20 May and 5 June 2024. In total, we spoke to 11 people: three people from libraries across London, five working in the early years/family support in local authorities in London, one from a nursery, one from a charity in London and another in Scotland. In these interviews, we explored:
We discussed with our experts how they/their organisation currently support families with children aged 3-5 in creating high-quality shared reading interactions at home. We also discussed the benefits of their reading products/services, the challenges and areas for improvement for their current offer to families. This allowed us to:
Through these interviews, we learned that libraries, Home Start services and family hubs currently support parents and caregivers to develop skills for reading with their children through a range of offers. For example, some services offer weekly, in-person story sessions for parents with young children.
Nikki shared how their services were flexible for parents and caregivers: “Families benefit from having dedicated reading spaces which were supported by a volunteer … Volunteers [also] provide weekly home visits tailored to family needs, spending 2-3 hours per visit, engaging in activities that support the child's development, including shared reading.”
A.C. also echoed using the library as a launch pad to start families reading (at home): “Libraries conduct weekly story and song sessions for children aged 0-5, using resources such as book packs from Book Trust to support these activities.” Similarly, Anita Luby, head of culture & libraries at Vision – Redbridge Culture and Leisure, mentioned that “The library offers programmes such as “rhyme time” to encourage reading at home and emphasises that these sessions are for parents to replicate at home.”
Caroline highlighted that Newham Library was successful in engaging primary school children by building good relationships with schools. She shared that “we have over 900 visits a year – approximately 27,000 children coming into libraries – we are probably getting three-quarters of the children in Newham into a library at some point in the year – that’s really really good engagement! … We have nothing like that for our under-fives, despite every library running multiple types of sessions … There is far more that we could be doing to encourage reading with our under-fives because it’s absolutely crucial”.
Iraklis echoed the importance of supporting families with children under the age of five. He shared that they created a programme called “Prebirth to Five Pathway” to support women from the time they are pregnant until the end of their child’s reception year (age five). Iraklis said “[This] involved bringing together 80 frontline practitioners to co-design the Prebirth to Five Pathway to make sure that we get the most out of our services … [this] involved libraries, schools, early-year settings, public health and the health services, such as health-visiting midwives and GPs”. As the Covid-19 pandemic occurred before their prototyping phase, they decided to explore the home learning environment, working with libraries as part of the pathway “to reflect the new reality”. They also worked closely with family hubs because: “this is the space where most families will engage with different professionals and services before their child attends school”.
We also took the opportunity to ask our experts what they thought might prevent parents and caregivers from reading at home with their children. Most highlighted barriers such as access to books and different constraints that prevented parents from engaging in shared reading.
Nikki acknowledged the challenges families face, specifically parents, noting, “There is a strong desire among families to read, but significant barriers include lack of accessible books, language challenges, and chaotic home environments … Overcoming stigma and lack of confidence in parents is necessary, ensuring they understand the value of reading and feel comfortable engaging in it.”
Katie echoed Nikki's thoughts, saying “There are many barriers to reading at home: external pressures on parents, such as time constraints and other responsibilities, not just a lack of access to books.”
Madhu shared the positive outcome of an initiative coordinated through their libraries to curate books to “represent the communities that we're working with”.
We also asked our experts about any reading products/services they know of that are being offered in or to their communities and have listed these below. During the interviews, it was unclear whether our priority families knew about these services and whether they had been using them.
Bookstart is an initiative by BookTrust that provides free books, resources and guidance to families with young children. The program works with libraries, health visitors, and early-years professionals to reach as many families as possible.
A Bookbug Bag is a free resource provided by the Scottish Book Trust to support early childhood literacy. It is given to children at different developmental stages, from babies to preschoolers, and includes age-appropriate books, activity ideas, and resources for parents to encourage reading and learning. These bags are typically distributed through nurseries, libraries, and health visitors.
The Doorstep Library sends volunteers to visit families in their homes, offering to read books with children and lending books weekly. Volunteers engage with both children and parents, providing personalised book recommendations and encouraging literacy development in a fun and supportive way.
The Libby app allows users to borrow and read eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines from their local library for free. It connects to public libraries and provides access to their digital collections. Users can search for available titles, place holds, download content for offline reading, and manage their library accounts directly through the app.
Visit the Libby website
BorrowBox is a digital library app that allows users to borrow eBooks and audiobooks for free through their local library. It connects users to their library's digital collection, where they can browse, borrow, and download titles onto their devices. The platform is accessible via a mobile app or desktop, and it offers a wide range of genres for readers of all ages.
The app offers a list of 50 activities that encourage learning through play, covering areas such as communication, physical development, and creativity. The goal is to help parents and caregivers foster their child's skills before they start school, promoting both educational and social growth.
We encouraged our experts to explore ideas and strategies (new or existing) that, if implemented, might promote more shared reading at home for low-income families. Here, we asked the ‘magic wand’ question – a tool that encourages people to break free from their usual constraints and explore possibilities beyond their perceived limitations:
"If you could wave a magic wand and change anything – whether it seems possible or not – about [the issue], what would it be?"
Our experts’ responses to this question ranged from providing additional amenities and enabling reading from home to promoting more diverse materials that reflected families’ culture and experiences.
Nikki would have “books that are topically suitable and represent diverse families and real-life experiences”. Adding to this, Katie would “Support families to manage the external pressures on parents, providing them with the headspace and environment to create a more conducive environment for reading with their children”
Steve echoed Nikki and Katie's thoughts on providing “suitable reading materials and addressing barriers, such as lack of time”.
Mohammad promotes “added amenities like crèche facilities.” and creating mobile libraries for people “who can't or won't come to libraries” to make these spaces more accessible and attractive.
Jayne proposed a communications campaign to reinforce the importance of reading to children, supported by free book distributions during home visits. She suggests that “introducing mandatory home visits at three and six months to distribute books and emphasise the benefits of reading to children would help model reading behaviour and provide direct support to families.”
Going one step further, Caroline added that “Councils engaging parents at the prenatal stage to teach speaking and reading skills before the child is born would be beneficial.”
Following a demo of the TANDEM app, our experts shared their initial thoughts and different factors that would influence their decision to purchase and deploy the app in their communities.
Unsurprisingly, the cost was a common potential barrier to purchasing the app (note that we had not shared any app costs during the interview). What became apparent was that the cost broke down into three parts: service provision, integration and ongoing support, and access to priority families.
Key themes highlighted by the experts include the financial and operational challenges of adopting new resources, such as tight budgets, integration costs, and the need for ongoing support and training for staff. They emphasised ensuring affordability for priority families, demonstrating measurable impact on children’s development, and incorporating diverse, inclusive content to maximise engagement with the app.
Anita noted the impact on libraries, as they “operate on tight budgets, often driven by necessity,” making the adoption of new resources a challenging decision.
A.C. highlighted the importance of training for library staff, arguing “ongoing technical support is crucial for successful implementation”. Adding to this, Jayne shared that “while the concept is promising, it would require time and effort to embed the app into existing services and ensure it reaches the families who need it most.”
In addition, Anita noted embedding the app within existing services, stating “Integration with existing library resources and promoting real-world engagement is important to ensure the app complements rather than competes with current offerings.”
Mei stressed that “Digital barriers are not a significant concern” but the app should minimise data usage where possible “ensuring the app is affordable for everyone”.
Similarly, Caroline supported this, saying “Cost and data usage are significant barriers, especially for disadvantaged families who might only have phone access and limited data.” Katie built on previous sentiments by capturing the challenges for nurseries: “Integration into the existing curriculum and the year’s activities is crucial, as is demonstrating that the app’s impact outweighs the effort needed to implement it.”
Katie also mentioned a preference for using tools with proven impact, saying that “Providing robust metrics and feedback loops to measure the tool’s impact is critical”. Recognising flexibility from service providers, Caroline added that “Libraries are open to promoting anything around reading as long as it meets standards and shows effectiveness.”
The majority of our experts also shared they needed to see clear evidence of the app’s impact on children’s development.
Iraklis said, “Ensuring the app aligns with evidence-based approaches and receives approval from organisations like the EEF can enhance its credibility and adoption”. Steve reiterated the importance of having a strong research base to demonstrate the app’s benefits, such as “improvements in early literacy and parent-child bonding to justify its adoption”. He also emphasised the need for the stories in the app to include diverse characters that reflect the communities they serve, which he believed is crucial for engagement.
Overall, our experts felt the app was usable for families, appreciating the app's clean, engaging design. They also praised its multiple features, such as conversation prompts and multilingual capabilities, noting the attention made to accessibility and personalisation. However, some concerns highlighted the impact of screen time for children, especially before bed, and promoting digital device use, with suggestions including positioning the app as a supplemental rather than primary reading tool.
We were invited to present TANDEM at the London Libraries Conference, whose theme, "Stronger Together," celebrated the resilience and innovation of London's public libraries in challenging times. Our goals for this event were to:
As a result, 10 out of 16 library staff members who attended the event registered their interest and joined the TANDEM waitlist.
Key features of the app that resonated with our experts were the conversation prompts and the quick comprehension exercise that families could complete at the end of the story.
Most, if not all of, our experts gave positive feedback on the app’s personalisation and multilingual capabilities, which was also mirrored in the feedback we received from our priority families.
A.C. noted the app’s design, stating its “clean, simple interface and engaging elements, like the flip card game, would keep both parents and children interested.” Commenting on accessibility, A.C. shared that “The addition of multiple languages in the app is highly beneficial for multicultural communities”. While Katie found the app's design “cute”, she highlighted “digital devices as potential barriers to high-quality interactions.”
Jayne felt the app's personalisation would “engage children by including familiar elements and characters”. However, she also raised concerns about promoting screen use among young children, suggesting that “the app could be more useful during travel or when on the move rather than as a primary reading tool at home.” Mei also raised concerns about the potential negative impact of screen time before bed and addiction related to screen time multiple times.
Iraklis shared that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are in the process of “introducing a discrete under fives offer within libraries. One of the areas focuses on sharing books at home”. Reading our work on using generative AI for shared reading, he mentioned that “with the libraries, we haven't really considered the digital side … rather than reading books, the focus is about sharing books at home to make it more accessible to all families … So I'm really interested in this project because we know that a lot of families use iPads, and there is definitely a place for that.”
