Children's Library offers Toys, Tech and Teaching Tools

This is the second in a three-part series exploring the New Westminster library. Libraries have evolved beyond simply being a collection of books. Host Deni Loubert interviews Children's Librarian Alicia Dobbs and Programming Librarian Caitlin MacRae about the latest collections in the library for kids. The library's Children's Department offers a wide array from talking books to toys you can check out. 

These days many homes do not have a CD player. Streaming has taken over as the music collection of choice. But learning to read can be difficult. Especially if English is not the language spoken in the home. The library offers books on CD, with the player built right into the book. Kids just push of a button on the inside front cover. They can follow along and grow their vocabulary while reading a new or favorite story.

Another new technology are Launchpads. These are stand-alone tablets. They are loaded up with fun learning applications. Kids can learn math or language skills. Because they don't go online, parents don't worry about the internet. But you don't always need technology to have fun and learn.A Story Exploration Kit incorporates different activities with books. These are perfect for a child struggling to learn to read. The paper activities can open up a whole new world for them. 

A big favorite for the whole family is the seed catalogue. An old school card catalogue has been converted into a handy storage facility for a wide variety of seeds. Kids can check out bright coloured tools for gardening and even a seed spacer to help with planting. 

Librarian Alicia takes viewers on a mini tour of the toy library which offers 70 different sets of toys. Toy dump trucks for play construction are shown along with a glimpse of the downstairs toy collection. Then Caitlin pulls out a ukelele and begins to play. She explains that they have a collection of them, along with an easy beginners play book that she wrote herself. She encourages families to try out this fun easy instrument for family singalongs.

But learning isn't always done alone. Caitlin ends the interview with a quick overview of the many programs the library has to offer. There is Baby Time and StoryHour for the little ones. Some of the programs connect directly with these collections. Last summer the two hosted a ukelele jam session. For teens they hosted a cooking class. The ongoing monthly gardening series is popular with gardeners of all ages. All events are listed in the events calendar online. They can also sign up online, a new feature for the library. 

Of course, new ideas are always welcome. " We want to know the kinds of things that you would be interested in," Caitlin reminds viewers at the end. " We are always open for suggestions. We've shown you a few of the new things that we have but there's lots of others stuff a library could do too."