Check it out!

Today I want to talk about something very dear to my heart… the public library. Not only do I have many many many memories from visiting the library as a child, my mother was a children’s librarian. It was definitely a big presence in our lives.

When I was growing up, the neighborhood public library was just around the corner and down a path through the park. My mom used to take my three brothers and I to the library quite often. My older brother and I would ride our bikes, my younger brother trailed behind on his Big Wheel, and my mom brought the baby in the seat on her bike. I remember the librarian watching through the big front windows, as my mom and younger brothers caught up to us and secured a bike lock. My speedy older brother and I were already inside, dropping books into the book return. The librarian thought my family was so cute. I didn’t think it was cute, it just seemed normal to me. (Looking back, I wonder if my mom was cute… or normal… or equipped with some sort of supernatural energy source. I have my suspicions).

We went to the library for scheduled story times. We went to the library to check out stacks and stacks of books. We went to participate in the summer reading program. We went to do research on the California missions and the life cycle of a frog and President Hoover. We often went just to pass an afternoon. I remember when I was old enough to get my own library card. As soon as I could write my own name, my mom said I was ready. I was so proud of my library card, that I had signed myself. It was truly a rite of passage in my family, when each of us was old enough and ready for our own library card. I had a wallet that had only one thing in it… that little orange laminated card. I remembered to bring it every time we went, so I could walk up to the counter independently, and check out my own books. I also remember setting a tent up in the back yard, and spending summer days laying there reading with a neighborhood friend. I loved returning my filled out summer reading card, telling the librarian which book was my favorite, and getting the sticker or pencil reward that I had earned. I met Curious Georoge, the Cat in the Hat, Ramona Quimby, and Nancy Drew all in the children’s corner of that little library.

When my own kids were small, I took them to the library all the time. We signed up for story times, and went regularly. My daughter used to set her stuffed animals up at home, put on an apron just like the librarian, and read stories and sing songs, pretending to run her own story time. We also checked out tons of books. The limit that I gave my kids was 25 picture books at a time (so I could have a consistent number and know how many we needed to return!) Someone else I know gave her sons each a tote bag. Their limit was however many books they could fit into their bag. Unlike any store you take your children to, you can say yes to anything in the library. It’s all free!

I love reading to my kids, and they love being read to. When my second child was born, my first would snuggle up to me whenever the baby needed to nurse; She was in charge of turning the pages, so I could read to her. We read before nap time, and we read again before bedtime. Sometimes I even sat and read stories while she was in the bath!

Reading to your children is one of the best ways you can help them learn to read, and really to help them learn to learn. Children who are read to develop a vocabulary that has thousands more words than those who aren’t read to. They learn how to hold a book, which way to turn pages, and they make the connection between the words on the page and the story they are hearing. They learn to make links between the story and real life. They learn to predict, to understand cause and effect, and to understand abstract concepts. All of these skills come into play in everything they need to learn in school, from reading, to writing, to science and math.

Reading to children is different than just talking or telling them stories. Books are often written in a different way than we speak. The vocabulary words, the sentence structure, and the concepts in books can be very different than spoken language. We could look at any single children’s book, to look at the ways it can help a child learn. Let’s take for an example the book A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. It’s a story about a girl who loves lima beans but won’t eat them, because none of her friends do, and she prefers fitting in over lima beans. She wakes up one morning to discover that she her skin has become striped overnight. As people make suggestions about what is wrong with her, her skin turns checker-board patterned, then covered in bacteria swirls, etc. Finally, eating lima beans brings her back to normal. Not only is this a funny, creative story, not only does this story teach a great lesson, not only does this book let you talk about cause and effect, not only does it let you talk about plot and sequencing, it teaches a lot of vocabulary! There are many words in this book that, chances are, your child may never hear in every day conversations: lima beans, fretting, impress, relieved, ointment, distraction, contagious, multi-colored, swamped, prodded, virus, bacteria, fungus, bizarre. When a child hears these words in the context of a story, though, he or she is introduced to a new word and at the same time, provided with a context for it that can give the child a sense of the meaning. Consider this passage: “Dr. Gourd and Mr. Mellon were the finest scientific minds in the land. Once again, Camilla was poked and prodded, looked at and listened to. The Experts wrote down lots of numbers. Then they huddled together and whispered.” Although this isn’t the way we usually talk to our children, the sentences (including the words scientific minds, huddled, and prodded, the phrase “in the land”) will make sense to the children, within the context of the story, and when paired with the illustrations in the book.

Keep in mind, too, that once your children learn to read on their own, they aren’t done having you read to them! Children’s interest and ability to understand is usually leaps and bounds ahead of their ability to read. Even when they start to sound out basic words, they are going to be reading very basic vocabulary, but will be interested in far more complex stories and concepts. Continue reading to them for as long as they will let you! I still love to have my 10-year-old snuggle up on the couch and listen while I read. It is a great way to spend time together, and it also leads to fun conversations as we talk about the book or the concepts it brings up.

Back to the library: The more, different books you read to your children, the more they will absorb concepts, skills, and vocabulary. And at the library, you will find books you never knew existed, and you can check them out, and read them for free, which allows you to read far more books than if you were purchasing each one. The librarians at every library I have ever visited have been more than willing to help find or suggest books on any given topic or age level. They recommended lots of science books for my daughter, and plenty of action books for my son.

We have four libraries to choose from in our valley. Each of them offers story time programs for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children. Visit their websites to find out the various schedules. As your children grow older, they offer homework help, help doing research, and book clubs for children (and adults!). Please take the time to visit our library. You’ll open all kinds of doors for you and your children.


Valencia Library
23743 W. Valencia Blvd.
Santa Clarita, CA 91355

Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Library
18601 Soledad Canyon Rd.
Santa Clarita, CA 91351

Old Town Newhall Library
24500 Main St.
Santa Clarita, CA 91321

Stevenson Ranch Library
25950 The Old Road
Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381