What's In a Name?

Lettice.  Cale.  Or, if you want to be more traditional, Kale. Maybe Romaine is more to your taste. A recipe for a salad, you ask?  That would be a good guess, but no.  These are actually trending baby names.  Yes,  Baby Lettice.

We have babies on the brain at the library lately since one of our own is due any minute now.  We're always excited to get new patrons, and the youngest patrons are the library's future.

Did you know that you can get your child of any age a library card?  Just have your own card in good standing, and you can get each of your children their own cards, too.  I still remember the day I got my first library card. I remember how excited and privileged I felt.  Having attained the great age of 5, I was now ready for the responsibilities and rights associated with a library card.  I would walk down 12th Street to the Carnegie Library on Hammond Avenue at least once a week.  I was a quiet child and I enjoyed the quiet pursuits of watching the fish in the aquarium, looking at the stereopticon, and of course, choosing and reading books. The Boxcar Children?  The Fannie Farmer Cookbook? Maybe be daring and get both? My choices were ceremoniously brought up to the desk beneath the Mother Goose painting and the nice librarian would look up my card and check them out to me.  I have very warm memories of that Children's Room.

Circa 1975 Children's Ro

Circa 2015 

You can build your own happy memories with your child in our Children's Room, too. The aquarium is gone, but the painting of all the Mother Goose rhymes is still there as well as the nice librarian.

Any child from newborn on up can get their own library card.  And studies show that when you read to your baby, you build important connections in the brain's language, social, and emotional areas.  Holding baby close while you read to him/her fosters feelings of safety and happiness for both of you, and helps baby learn to connect reading with those good feelings.

How about trying out the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program?  Sound daunting?  If you read only one book to your child each night for 3 years you will have read well over 1,000 books!  You may include ANY books your child listens to, whether read by you, a grandparent, sibling, teacher, Kindle, computer-you get the idea.  So long as your child listens to the entire story, even if it's the same one over and over, it counts towards the 1,000 total.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is just one of many activities in our Children's Room.  There's Story Hour every Tuesday at 10:30, LEGO Club the first Monday of every month, a new craft every month, movies, Summer Reading Program-check out the newsletter at superiorlibrary.org and then stop by the Children's Room to start building your own memories.

Be sure to bring in baby Cale so we can meet him (or her?).

Do you have fond memories of the library?  I would love to hear them!