UP Public Library to Offer ‘Chat and Play’ Workshops

The University Park Public Library is offering new programming to support its youngest readers and their families in the critical early years of child development.

During Chat and Play Parent/Child Workshops, caretakers will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with resource professionals on topics including literacy, child development, speech and hearing, and nutrition.

Meanwhile, they and their youngsters will play at stations designed to encourage early learning and open-ended play. 

Attendees shouldn’t expect any microphones or slideshows — professionals will speak individually with each parent or caregiver about where their child is right now and address concerns or questions they may have, explained youth services librarian Zoe Williams. 

“The goal is that parents will feel like they get information that they can use, while their kids are having fun,” she said.

The workshops are designed for children between the ages of 1 and 3 and their caretakers, including parents, nannies, and grandparents. Siblings are also welcome.

Workshops are scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays in October. They will be held in the library’s third-floor meeting room. Caretakers should plan on staying for the entire workshop. Tickets will be available at the library’s children’s desk starting at 10 a.m. on program days.

The workshop schedule is:

• Oct. 2: Orientation and Early Literacy with Youth Services Librarian Zoe Williams
• Oct. 9: Child Development with SMU KID Lab Director Sarah Kucker
• Oct. 16: Speech and Hearing with HPISD Director of Special Programs Cynthia Marlow Gould
• Oct. 23: Nutrition with Kacie Barnes of Mama Knows Nutrition
• Oct. 30: Play, Movement and Music with Stacie Goodman, owner of Play Play Play!

The new program’s structure comes from the Family Place Libraries initiative. Family Place Libraries are part of a national network that aims to transform libraries into community centers that support the social, emotional, and cognitive development of very young children. 

The University Park Public Library became a Family Place Library thanks to assistance from a La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas grant.

The library will monitor the program’s impact and share data with the Family Place Libraries network. If necessary, it will tweak the programs to better serve the community before it offers another series of workshops starting in January 2025, Williams said.

Later this fall, the library plans to add even more resources for its youngest readers. 

The library is going to bring a parenting collection of books and a permanent play space to its children’s section. It will also start offering the “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program, which challenges families to meet an ambitious reading goal before their youngsters start school.

The library will host a kick-off party for the “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program and play space from 11 a.m. to noon on Nov. 9.

“This age range is so important,” Williams said, explaining that crucial brain development occurs before age three. “Really what you do in this time frame leads to success later in life.”