For Children and Families
January/February 2007

 
Elmo visited children in The Trove on October 24th and handed out Halloween safety tips.

Take a Field Trip With Your Kids!

“The Wheels on the Bus” is sung in many of our early childhood programs. Why not take advantage of your preschooler’s fascination with this song and take a short bus trip? Even if you only go a few stops and come right back, a child who has never ridden a bus will view this as an adventure with lots of exciting things to see and talk about. A train ride is another fun idea, even if there is no destination. Often what is ordinary to us is exciting and stimulating to a young child.

Busy Times in The Trove

Since it opened in October 2005, over 115,000 people have visited The Trove. Families have borrowed 30% more items, and 26,840 children have attended over 800 programs, an increase of more than 50% over the year prior to construction. Managing these record numbers is a challenge, and as a result, we will be making the following changes in the new year:

More Playtime Opportunities. Does your child love trucks? Building with blocks? Putting puzzles together? We’re excited to announce special “theme weeks” in The Trove for children and their caregivers to share creative playtime together with theme-related toys and books. Visit during the weeks of January 28th (trucks), February 11th (blocks) and February 25th (puzzles) when there are no programs scheduled in the StoryTrove. See the calendar included in this newsletter for special Family Read Alouds during those weeks, when librarians will share stories and songs highlighting the week’s theme. Funding for theme week toys is provided by the White Plains Library Foundation.

New Stroller Policy. Many families visit The Trove with strollers, which can cause traffi c jams during programs. For everyone’s safety and comfort, staff will now ask that you park strollers outside of the program room,

Residents Only, Please. Beginning in February, you will need to show your Trove library card, issued to residents only, to get a ticket for our always overbooked Mother Goose Time and Time for 2s & 3s. We are adding baby storytimes and toddler storytimes to accommodate non-residents. See the calendar included in this newsletter for details.

 Better Communication. It’s a two-way street. We want to know you better and listen to your ideas. You need to know what’s going on and how The Trove works, from upcoming programs, to service shortcuts, to rules of the road. As a starting place, we’ll be asking each parent or caregiver to complete an intake form for a new Trove mailing list and to get some feedback from you.