UP Library ‘Chat and Play’ Mixes Playtime, Parenting Tips

For 1-year-old Annie Baron, it was playtime in the make-believe kitchen at the University Park Public Library. But fun wasn’t the only item on the menu for toddlers and their caretakers during the library’s Chat and Play Parent/Child Workshops.

For five mornings in October, caretakers had a chance to talk one-on-one with resource professionals on topics including literacy, child development, speech and hearing, and nutrition. 

Meanwhile, they and their youngsters built with blocks, played with puppets, read together, wheeled ride-on toys, and tried out stations designed to encourage early learning and open-ended play. 

Mama Knows Nutrition founder Kacie Barnes circulated around the room during the Oct. 23 workshop, stopping to speak individually with every caretaker-child pair.

Annie’s mom, Beth, asked Barnes for healthier suggestions for Annie’s sweet-toothed big sister. She came away with a smoothie recipe and new foods that her kindergartner could try.

While her wheel-loving toddler Max played with toys, Emelyne Siahmakoun asked the registered dietitian nutritionist about his 4-year-old big sister, who has started refusing green foods.

“She said I was doing better than I thought I was,” Siahmakoun said after the discussion. She learned that her daughter’s behavior is typical of children her age, and that she shouldn’t worry so long as her preschooler continues to eat a variety of other foods.

Barnes said she appreciated the workshop’s casual and intimate format.

“Sometimes when I do speaking events and you ask for questions, people get nervous to ask in front of everybody, so, I think this is a really nice setting for them to get some more one-on-one help and not be worried about what other parents are thinking,” she said.

The Chat and Play’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 supporting the social, emotional, and cognitive development of very young children. 

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

Youth services librarian Zoe Williams said it has been gratifying to watch children enjoy the play stations and parents receive answers and reassurance from experts.

“We all have a desire to do the best for our kids,” Williams said. “I think that’s been encouraging, to see them get feedback from people who really know what they can do, or what they are doing that’s working.”

The library plans to offer the workshops twice annually, and they are only one piece of its efforts to support young readers and their families. 

The library recently added a parenting collection of books and permanent play space to its children’s section. It has also started offering the “Grow UP a Reader” program, which challenges families to meet a 1,000-book reading goal before their youngsters start school.

“This age range is so important,” Williams said, explaining that crucial brain development occurs before age 3. “Really what you do in this time frame leads to success later in life.