Storytimes are back

Our storytimes begin Monday, January 25.  We have a full schedule of 10 storytimes a week.  We hope you find the perfect fit for your child.

Babies are welcome on Friday mornings at the Main Library at 10:00.  Deborah leads this precious group.  We sing songs, storytime main librarylearn rhymes and read a board book together.  Because this is a special time for babies, we ask you not to bring older siblings.  Once a child begins to walk, we have more appropriate storytimes.

Toddlers are little ones who are walking.   Some of them are just learning to walk.  Others are really good at walking, but have a bit more trouble sitting still for stories.  All toddlers are welcome to join us on Monday at 10:00, Wednesday at 11:00 and/or Friday at 11:00.  These storytimes feature songs and rhymes with lots of movement.  There will be a book or two, but they will be brief.

Preschoolers are ready to sit still for several stories.  They don’t have to sit still for the full 30 minutes.  We have rhymes and songs between stories to get our wiggles out.  The stories are longer, and there is more interaction with the books.   We have 3 storytimes a week for this age group:  Monday at 11:00, Wednesday at 10:00 at the Main Library and/or Friday at our branch library in North Chelmsford at 10:30 am.

Finally, we have Big Kids.  These are children ages 4-6 years old and enjoy going to storytime all by themselves, without their caretaker, on Thursday afternoon at 1:30.  They often have lively discussions about the books, and they end their time with a craft or activity.

Have you been counting?  I mentioned we have 10 storytimes a week but have only listed 8 of them.  Our other 2 storytimes are perfect for active children.

Stay and Play is brand new this winter.  Families with children ages 1 and up are invited to the Main Library on Tuesday mornings at 10:00.logo-crafts  This is the day and time when we offered crafts in the fall.  We’re expanding the program a bit.  We will begin with a short story before the craft.   We invite your children to stay and play.  We’ll have special toys in the room. We invite you to stay and play and meet other caregivers, or reconnect with families.  We’ll clean up the toys at 11:00.

This is our 3rd year offering PlaySpace.  On Thursday mornings at 10:00, our meeting room is logo-playspacetransformed.  We read a story and then invite children and grownups to act out parts of the story with crafts, activities and sensory experiences.  We make the stories come alive.

Okay, I just described 10 opportunities to surround young children with Talking, Reading, Singing, Writing and Playing – the building blocks to literacy.  Come join us!

Drop into our storytimes each week until May 13.  (except for school vacation weeks in February and April)

~Maureen

P.S.  This doesn’t even count Dads and Donuts – a storytime on the 2nd Sat of the month at 10:30 am.  We have been running this storytime all year round for almost 14 years!  Dads are in the majority, with children ages 2 and up, but moms are always welcome.