What makes a good library for kids? What would you include in the children's section if you had a reasonable budget and a brand new facility? I would be sure to include lots of good books (that goes without saying), small wood puzzles, a large floor puzzle or two, some board games, a lego table, maybe a train table, some puppets with puppet stage, blocks, maybe large foam blocks too, a coloring/craft area, maybe a play kitchen with food/dishes, maybe even a crawling/play area for babies if money allowed. I could probably think of even more things if I took even more than a few seconds to consider. So, when Novi tore down their old library (which had a few of these things) and built a brand-spanking new one, I assumed (silly me!) that they might include some of these things too! The building is huge and gorgeous. The facility is high-tech and shiny in every way, so I expected good things as I took my kids there today for the first time. Yet, I wandered around the children's section twice, assuming I must just be missing the good stuff. No. Didn't miss anything. There's just nothing there! Well, more specificially, there's no toys there. They have 30 computers down the center aisle, all fully equipped with all the computer games a child could want. And believe me, they were being well-utilized. But nothing of any real educational value existed. Nothing that would foster creativity, imagination, or interactive play with their peers. Just the chance to spend more time with their faces glued to a screen, lost in their own digital world. Fabulous. I finally found a box of mangy and torn up puppets in the back corner and so we spent an hour playing with those. Also in the box were these two little gems:
So, we ran around in race car driver uniforms with bunnies/owls/dragons on our hands. Not a lost afternoon, but certainly not what I was expecting from a brand new facility. Am I the only one who would be disappointed with such a place? Am I the only one who seeks for more from a library than a place where I can dump my kids in front of a computer? I've got a computer at home! And I'm already fighting the battle over screen time every day. Why would I take them somewhere else to fight it again?? The good thing about today, though, was that now Benjamin has decided he wants to be a race car driver for Halloween. I wonder if the library would let me check out the costume. :)
3 comments:
I absolutely agree... somehow, a library fully stocked with computer games, seems to have lost the concept of actually being a library! How many kids are actually going to read books, when they can just play pc games instead. And, yes, where is the educational value in computer games??? I think you should bring this 'tragedy' to someones attention... very seriously! Write a formal letter or something stating the obvious... which clearly they didn't grasp when funding this new facility!!! What a disappointment. Fortunately our library here still has weekly story time for infant/toddlers and then older kids on a separate day, and a GREAT kids play area with puzzles, blocks, puppets etc! I just need to use it more often!
I couldn't agree with you more on this one Michelle. It makes my stomach turn when I walk into a library and see a huge computer section. I know my kids are going to be begging to play - isn't that what I was trying to get away from by leaving the TV and computer at home?! My older boys have learned though that they are expected to find a book for themselves, and read a story book to each of their sisters before they get any time on the computers. Usually they do end up getting lost in the books and never get to the computer. Seriously though - a library packed with "screens" the biggest oxymoron ever - a moron, that's who planned it!
Yes!! I completely agree! I love our Salt Lake library with lots of places for kids to play!
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