Integrating Early Literacy into Universal Child Care is Essential

Literacy in Community (LINC) congratulates Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on his victory and his bold commitment to making universal child care a reality for New York City families. His focus on supporting caregivers and strengthening the city’s affordability addresses the urgent needs of communities across the five boroughs.

We are especially energized by what this moment can mean for our youngest New Yorkers. Universal child care presents an extraordinary opportunity—not only to help parents return to work, but also to ensure that children from birth have access to the early learning experiences that shape their futures. Integrating early literacy into universal child care is essential to achieving true quality. Learning to read begins at birth, and child care settings are powerful environments for nurturing the language-rich interactions that fuel healthy brain development during the first three years of life. The dialogue around universal childcare needs to expand beyond access, affordability and pay parity to include early literacy.

For nearly 30 years, LINC has advanced a two-generation, community-based approach to early literacy, working to empower families, caregivers, and educators to build strong reading habits from the very beginning. As the coordinating agency of City’s First Readers, a coalition of 17 partner organizations that includes New York City’s public libraries, we know what is possible when communities, families, and systems align around children’s earliest learning.

We look forward to partnering with the Mamdani administration to expand the promise of universal child care by making early literacy a core pillar of quality and ensuring that every child in New York City receives a fair and just start in life.

Together, we can ensure that our systems support the very best in early childhood development that every New York City family deserves. We look forward to participating in a new era of possibilities.