Want to give your child a lifetime of wisdom, adventure and pleasure? Acquaint them with their local library.
That’s the idea behind Take Your Child to the Library Day, which takes place Saturday, Feb. 7. This year marks the fourth such celebration and the second in which the Baldwinsville Public Library is participating.
“It’s a great incentive to get people into the library that haven’t come in before,” said BPL Children’s Librarian Corinne Kushner. “Once we get them in the door, they can see how awesome we are.”
BPL will join more than 470 libraries in three countries and two Caribbean islands in celebrating the occasion during its regular operating hours on Feb. 7.
The idea for the event came from Nadine Lipman, the retired head of children’s services at the Waterford, Conn., Public Library, who was inspired by Take Your Child to Work Day.
Lipman launched the program in Connecticut in 2012 in order to promote children’s programming at local libraries; it has since taken off. She set the regular date for the event on the first Saturday each February, though libraries are free to choose their own dates.
Kushner said she learned of the program at a New York Library Association conference two years ago.
“They had workshops you signed up for, and I signed up for that one,” she said. “It had already been going on for a year at that point.”
Kushner said it seemed like a good way to attract residents to the library.
“We can do 3 million programs a week, but if people don’t come, what good does it do?” she said. “An event like this gets bodies in the door.”
Once those bodies are in the door, they can take advantage of all of the programs the library has to offer.
“It’s another way to raise awareness in the community,” said Nancy Howe, BPL’s director of outreach and public relations. “Lots of parents don’t take advantage of bringing their kids in here, and they should. There’s so much to offer.”
Indeed, the Baldwinsville library offers a variety of programs for children, from story times to books on tape to computer games, as well as teen programs like a photo contest.
The event will highlight those programs and offer a carnival, which will feature balloon animals, face painting, carnival games and more. During the event, parents will be encouraged to sign their children up for a library card.
“We have a lot of good resources, both for pleasure and education, once they hit school age,” Howe said. “If we can get them in here, we can help them become lifelong learners and active readers throughout their lives.”
Other local participating libraries include the DeWitt Community Library, the Onondaga Free Library and the Onondaga County Central Library at the Galleries, though there’s still time for additional libraries to add programming for the day.
For more information on Take Your Child to the Library Day, visit takeyourchildtothelibrary.org.
