Olympia and Lacey Timberland Libraries offer Book Babies Storytime for children ages 0-24 months

Timberland Regional Library is excited to offer Book Babies storytime for children age 0 to 24 months and their caregivers, every Tuesday at 11 am at Lacey Timberland Library and every Thursday at 10 am at the Olympia Timberland Library. This engaging program at the library is designed for babies and very young children and provides many benefits that help enable linguistic, cognitive, and social development. Plus, it is fun!

During Book Babies, library staff share stories, songs, bounces, and rhymes. Some of them you may even remember from your own childhood, like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. During storytime, babies are exposed to a wide range of words and sounds that they may not encounter at home. Setting the stage for a lifetime of learning and exploration, Book Babies is a shared experience between caregivers, and their little ones, and fosters a very early love of the literacy skills crucial to early success.

Book Babies encourages active participation from caregivers. Storytime often ends with parachute play and toy time, and a participant shared, “We love coming to Book Babies so much! It’s the first time he has been around other babies and young kids his own age.” Another parent said that library storytime has helped foster social skills in her child, so much so that they now go to three different local library branches each week.

One of the Book Babies presenters, Meghan Hall, noted, “We have many diverse types of families participating in Book Babies. It is wonderful to see the babies, from all backgrounds, together with their caregivers, smiling, laughing, and bonding. We always have a wonderful time learning and sharing together. Some adults and their kiddos have even become friends through meeting at Book Babies, and now connect and socialize outside of the library as well.”

Every storytime begins with the statement, “Library storytime is for everyone, and we’re glad you’re here today.” Each session also includes a tip for caregivers about infant and toddler brain development, book suggestions, and information about free library resources for early learning.

Drop in to Book Babies at Lacey Timberland Library on Tuesdays at 11 AM (no session on April 18 due to library closure) or at Olympia Timberland Library on Thursdays at 10 AM. You can also visit any Timberland Regional Library branch and ask for assistance from staff to find upcoming storytimes in your area. Click here to view upcoming Book Babies sessions.

Timberland Regional LIBRARY provides for the entertainment, information, and lifelong learning needs of Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county residents at 29 community public library locations. The library system is funded mainly by local property taxes, timber tax, fundraising efforts of TRL Friends of the Library, and generous donations by individual supporters.

All Timberland library programs are free and open to the public. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s programs may contact the library one week in advance. For more information visit TRL.org