Why I Do Baby Storytimes

I’m in one of those contemplative moods about my job and the role of libraries after a morning of over 45 kids in for baby storytimes. Baby storytimes? Yes, baby storytimes! I get that question often, Why do you do storytimes for babies? I mean, what could they possibly get from a storytime, they don’t understand the words I'm saying or the story, right. Oh, but that's wrong! The youngest ones in my lapsit may not get the plot of Knuffle Bunny, but when I flail my arms and animatedly say “AGGLE FLAGGLE KLABBLE!!”, they stop dead in their tracks.  They get that.

But here are just some of the reasons why I do baby programs:

For new parents, I can model reading behaviors they sometimes are unaware of or overwhelmed by. Your child starts getting antsy? Then close the book. The book has too many words? Make up your own story or skip pages (remember, they don’t understand there’s a plot!) Read with animation in your voice and expression on your face. Make it a special time of bonding between parent(s) and child. One of the biggest points about reading with your child is the positive experience it creates: both strengthening bonding between parent and child and creating positive experiences associated with books and reading. So I show parents that. Plus, if you have a young baby, sometimes you just want to get out of the house and speak to other adults. Other adults who get that you’ve not slept a full night in 6 months (or maybe showered that morning). Other adults who may have a trick that worked for them to help while baby’s teething. It helps parents discover some helpful parenting ideas and retain socialization skills ;) AND it develops baby’s socialization skills. Trust me, I can tell the kids who’ve never been in a social setting before they enter one of my preschool storytimes. By bringing them into the library in a lapsit or Ones program, we work on those skills as everyone else is… so they aren’t the lone hyper–shy or hyper-distractive kid in a group of older preschoolers. Plus, it’s so cute to see kids becoming friends… the “Hello, my name is ___. Do you want to be best friends?” line is always amusing to hear. I see kids who met in the baby programs who start having playdates and the parents become friends and it widens social circles.

We also work on developmental and emergent literacy skills. Today, I had the baby class using homemade shakers (you get DIY tips like that, too!), and the  Ones group working on fine motor skills. Emergent literacy skills are littered through a program. These six concepts are what children begin to exhibit as they get ready to read. And the activities we do in a baby program brings awareness
to these skills. This is one of those things that an e-Reader or a Baby Einstein
video cannot give your child. It has to be done “live”. (They've been talking about babies and TV in the news again recently.) We also learn nursery rhymes and traditional songs, and even tweak them for our theme’s purpose. Nursery rhymes and songs are great building blocks, and the repetition of them is great for development (plus, a whole lot nicer for Mom and Dad than getting a Barney or Doodlebop song stuck on repeat!) And if you’ve ever been to a baby OR preschool program here… or you have a fussy child at home, you know the second that you start singing, they usually calm down.

Another reason I do baby programs? It gets kids in right from the start (parents, too!). Kids and parents feel comfortable in the library, they know where things are, and they get to know me and comfortable asking for help in finding things. Let’s face it, if you don’t know how libraries are set up since you haven’t been coming in, it can be kind of tricky. But if kids or parents know my face, it for some reason seems less intimidating to ask what number books on pets or star wars or fill-in-the-blank are. I have kids who were in my original Ones program now in 1st grade, and these kids are more comfortable in the library than many adults! They know how to find books in the non-fiction section, which I can’t say for everyone. When  they come in when there’s not a program, they come back to my office to say hi or for help to find a book.

So are they a little louder than most patrons? Yes. (That’s why we do them on Friday mornings, an often slow time at the library.) Babies nap and eat. And if they don’t get what they need, they make sure everyone knows. But we try to teach them about being in a library, and trust me, it’s much better for a toddler to learn that than a more mobile and vocal preschooler to come in “when he’s old enough to get books” and never have been exposed to a library setting. I’m also more than a little tired after two back to back. But I think about the smiles on these babies’ faces as they responded to certain parts of the program. I think about the older kids who’ve gone through the program, like Ethan, who was named the top reader in all of Kindergarten at Willow Lane Elementary last year. And I know that these kids are developing positive feelings towards the library and reading, and I know that many of them, years from now, will be continuing to read. Those are just some of the reasons why I do baby programs.