News
August 11, 2016Stay & Play at SCPL to Benefit Families with Toddlers
The Phyllis Bornt Branch Library & Literacy Center, located at 948 State Street, is recruiting families with children age 1-3 to participate in a series of workshops called Stay & Play. The series begins on September 6 and is held for five consecutive weeks. Families will have a choice to register for Tuesdays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 11am. Stay & Play workshops are a component of the Family Place Library model, which the Bornt Branch is currently implementing. The sessions are play based, and include large and small motor activities, dramatic play, manipulatives such as puzzles and blocks, transportation vehicles, books and library resources. It is also opportunity for parents with very young children to interact with other parents and community resource professionals. Every session will include an expert on either literacy, speech and language, child development, nutrition, or fitness.
The goals of a Family Place Library are for families with young children to know and use the library as an early childhood and family resource center; and for the library to be recognized as a key institution and community partner that serves the early education information needs of families with young children. There are over 400 libraries across the nation with the Family Place designation.
The Bornt Branch will be the first Family Place Library in the Schenectady County Library system. Funded by a generous grant from The Schenectady Foundation, which included staff training in the Family Place Library model, the library has purchased new educational materials, new library resources such as board books and picture books, toys and other play resources, multi-media devices including tablets for early learning, and offered the Stay & Play Workshop series. The grant also funds early literacy workshops for Family, Friend and Neighbor care-givers at the branch.
For more information, and to register for the September series of Stay & Play, call the Phyllis Bornt Branch Library & Literacy Center at 372-4393 or visit www.scpl.org to register on-line.
