Children

The Library offers a large collection of children's books including picture books and board books for babies and beginning readers. Early Reading books are arranged by reading level. Alphabet and counting books are shelved in a separate area designed for easy use by parents and young children.

The nonfiction collection contains books on a full range of topics of interest to children of all ages. Special collections are available on topics such as Native Americans, holidays, award winners and graphic novels.

Click here for a flyer about what we have for children at the Library.

NEW! eBooks for Children

Digitized Native American Children's Books from UNM

Storyline Online brings children’s literature to life with celebrity readers and computer-enhanced illustrations.

Online Resources

Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR)

This program was created by the Public Library Association. It is based on studies that were conducted about storytimes being presented in libraries to determine the best way to read to children to develop pre-literacy skills. These formal skills are:

• Print motivation: encouraging children to love books
• Vocabulary: hearing new words and learning their meanings
• Print awareness: learning that the print in books makes words and that print is everywhere (road signs, grocery signs, etc.)
• Narrative skills: the ability to understand that a story has a beginning, middle, and end, plus being able to tell a story
• Phonological awareness: knowing that letters have certain sounds
• Letter knowledge

Further studies have shown that these skills may be developed with simple everyday activities:

• Talking: children learn new words and what they mean by listening to their parents and others talk. Make sure you and your child have time both listening to and talking with each other to prepare your child to understand the meaning of what they read.
• Singing: songs help slow language so children can hear the different sounds that make up words.  You also can sing the alphabet song to help them learn the letters.
• Reading: reading together is the single most important way to help children get ready to read.  Shared reading increases vocabulary, helps children learn how print looks and how to use a book—how it opens, print goes from left to right, how to turn a page, etc.  Books can also help introduce new words that are not heard in everyday conversations.

Children who are read to are more likely to want to read themselves.

• Writing: reading and writing go together.  Both represent spoken language and communicate information.  Children can learn pre-reading skills through writing activities, beginning with scribbles to “signing” their names as they begin to write letters.
• Playing: children learn that words stand for real objects and experiences through play.  Playing also helps them to express themselves and put thoughts into words.  Parents can encourage children to make up stories with puppets or stuffed animals so that they understand that stories and books have a beginning, middle, and end.  You can even ask a child to “read” a book to you by taking a familiar story and asking the child to tell you what happens.

ECRR Workshops for Parents and Caregivers

The Library staff offers a one-hour workshop for parents and caregivers of pre-school children. Based on the Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) program, the workshop explains why it is important to read to children and encourages reading at home with tips and titles to make reading fun for both children and adults. Call the library for a schedule of workshops.

Early Literacy Resources

Begin Smart Books gives video tips on how to read to babies.

Reading With Babies provides 7 video clips on various aspects of reading to babies in English and Spanish from the Read to Me Program at Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY.

Finger Plays & Reading Wordless Books provides video examples of new finger plays and how to help children read wordless books from Johnson County Library, Overland Park, KS.

Video Fingerplays is a collection of wordless finger play videos from Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN.

More Early Literacy Links

Annapolis Valley (Nova Scotia, Canada) Regional Library
Brooklyn (NY) Public Library
Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy
Denver (CO) Public Library
Hennepin County (MN) Public Library
Johnson County (KS) Library
King County (WA) Library System
Montgomery County (MD) Public Libraries
Multnomah County (OR) Library
Pierce County (WA) Library System
Provo City (UT) Library
West Bloomfield Township (MI) Public Library