Storytime at Your Library – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere
Most libraries offer a storytime for young children. All the
libraries that we have lived near offered three different storytimes, one for
babies, one for toddlers, and one for preschoolers. We have also visited other
libraries that only offer one storytime for all ages together. Several times, I
have seen evening storytime hours for the whole family, although we haven’t had
a chance to attend one of these yet.
Regularly attending library storytimes has benefited both my
children and me in a number of ways. When I was a new mom, with no friends who
had babies, library storytime is how we made connections with other families
with new children close in age. Some of the friends we made there, have
remained lifelong friends to this day, over 9 years later.
It also established what I consider a very healthy habit of
regular visits to the library. The kids love to pick out a book or two (or six)
to bring home. I got into the habit of checking out parenting books that I had
heard about without spending a lot of money. One or two were useful enough to
me to buy my own copy of, but without the library, I would have given up before
I found them.
While libraries don’t usually offer storytimes for school
aged children or teens, they do have a lot of other programs for the older kids
too. Some have book clubs, movie afternoons, read-to-dog
programs, or other regular activities for older kids and teens. And, the
programs are all free. Check out what your local library has to offer. Most
libraries post their offerings online at their
websites.
