BOERNE– The Patrick Heath Public Library is rolling out a new program aimed at helping families with young children access early learning materials and community resources.
The program, called Bright Beginning, is offered through a partnership with Family Place Libraries – a nationwide organization that exists to institutionalize a family friendly environment by transforming libraries into community centers for literacy, early childhood development, parent education and engagement, family support, and community information.
“One of the goals of the library is to promote lifelong learning for all ages,” Library Director Kelly Skovbjerg said. “Recognizing the difficulties of raising young children, this program serves as a family’s central resource for all the things they need to help with early learning, literacy, and more.”
Knowing how many families with young children it serves, library staff applied for and received a $6,000 grant to join Family Place Libraries. The Patrick Heath Public Library joins only 450 other libraries in the country to offer this programming.
The Bright Beginning program includes a fiveweek workshop where participating families gather in a specially designed play space and kids can interact with each other through play-based learning and art activities. Also, each week a different community professional will attend the workshop to connect participants to additional family resources.
The library has also updated its parent-teacher collection to include additional early learning and literacy materials available to all library patrons.
A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held April 11 at the Library’s new play space and workshop gathering area.
The first five-week session for Bright Beginning is set to begin Friday, April 14 at 10 a.m. with space for 10 families. You must register ahead of time to attend the workshop. The library plans to expand to two sessions next year with one of the sessions occurring in the evening to better accommodate working parents.
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