By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris The trees are changing, the weather is cooling, and the days are shortening. Winter is on its way! The changing seasons always offer great learning opportunities for kids, who are already asking why all of the above is happening. Explore the virtual tutorial Caregivers and parents, we’ve heard from you … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris October is a big month! Many kids are excited for Halloween, of course. We finally enter an autumn that will last a while; that’s usually pretty great. Sometimes we even see a few snow flurries, which is probably more exciting to me than to others. And of course, every year, … Read more
Fall is festive and fun for families! Your public library and the Collaboration for Early Childhood have curated activities, events, and resources for you and your little ones to make the most of this special season. Activities Storytimes Places Events
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris “You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.” Strong, meaningful words from Fred Rogers, my early childhood hero. He was, as most know, the host of Mister Rogers’ … Read more
With Hoopla‘s new BingePass and your Oak Park library card, you can get unlimited streaming for seven days with a single borrow! Let’s get started… How do I use BingePass? Watch the video below for an overview of how to use BingePass. Please note: The video shows how to access BingePass using an iPhone. For … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris It’s never too early to talk about emotions with children, even babies and toddlers. The end of summer and start of new autumn routines is close, and with all of the big changes can come big feelings. Below are a few activities you can do together to encourage kids to … Read more
By Shelly Harris, Children’s Librarian July is Disability Pride Month! It’s been celebrated since 1990, when President HW Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, though many non-disabled people have not heard of it. Disability Pride Month means different things to different people: honoring early activists, recognizing that their disability is … Read more
Summer is finally, finally here! And with the help of our friends at the Collaboration for Early Childhood, we’ve put together a list of things to do, places to explore, and ways to keep the learning going during these beautiful warm days. Our community has so much to offer. Here are just a few suggestions … Read more
By Children’s Librarian Shelly Harris For kids, play is serious learning. That means storytimes are both fun and serious learning! Every class we lead rests on the foundation of the Very Ready Reading Program, which offers seven ways to immerse kids in early literacy. Those seven ways are sharing books, songs, stories, words, rhymes, sounds, and … Read more
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Summer is almost here! Most people look at summer as a time to relax and have fun. For Children’s Services Librarians, it’s our busy season! We’ve spent the past few months preparing the summer reading program, and now it’s here! This summer, our theme is Find Your Voice. Once again we … Read more
