Tag: Library

Suffolk County Public Libraries Summer Tour

On By justmymomsenseIn new york, writing challengeLeave a comment

If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen some of our library hauls through the years. We love our library and are there at least once a week, usually more. When Suffolk County announced plans for a library summer tour, we knew we had to check it out!

One library in particular was definitely a sensory friendly favorite!

Suffolk County is one of two counties in Long Island, NY. Long Island consists of two counties, Nassau and Suffolk. In total, there are 62 counties in all of NY state.

For this summer tour, each of my kids got their own passport book that they could personalize with their name and home library. From July 1 – August 31, every time we visited a library, they would receive a stamp in their passport. There were also three different milestones in order be entered into raffles:

5 library stamps: One entry into a raffle for a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card

15 library stamps: One entry into a raffle for a $1000 Barnes & Noble gift card

25 library stamps: One entry into a raffle for a Nook & $25 Barnes & Noble gift card

Up until this tour, we had only frequented two libraries prior, so most of these were new for us. In total we visited 16, receiving 15 stamps (we saw two libraries from the same branch) and visited our home library numerous times throughout the summer.

Let’s start with our favorite sensory friendly library:

Sachem

The thing that stood out to us most at Sachem was definitely Discovery Grove.

Discovery Grove is an outdoor classroom for children birth through 5th grade and their caregiver. Each area provides children with many learning opportunities in math, science, music, and art while promoting imaginative play, problem-solving skills, and socialization. These experiences provide occasions to hone their fine and gross motor skills, expand language and communication skills, and gain confidence to engage in new experiences and environments. – Sachem Library Website

There were areas for digging, building, climbing and more. All the senses can be activated through water play, instruments, heavy work and creativity. We spent so much time out in Discovery Grove and my kids started working together to build a house. This is definitely a spot we will be visiting again!

Here is a list (in no particular order) of the other libraries we visited and what stood out to us about each location:

  • Northport and East Northport
    • These two buildings are a part of the same branch and located a few minutes from each other. They had great kid areas, a fun scavenger hunt to locate literary characters throughout the children’s section and East Northport has a great playground right outside.
    • Fun Fact from the passport book: At Northport, we have a commemorative statue of The Little Prince and at East-Northport, the whimsical Library Bear!
  • Cold Spring Harbor
    • This is probably the prettiest library we visited. Located on a hill with water views, this library was quiet, quaint and had live streams from other countries scrolling on a monitor in the children’s section.
    • Fun Fact from the passport book: The library is located directly on the Cold Spring Harbor State Park & Green Belt Trail.
  • Huntington
    • This library is in a great location in the heart of Huntington. After your visit, you can easily walk to local restaurants and shops.
    • Fun Fact from the passport book: The main building used to be the NY Telephone Building.
  • South Huntington
    • The children’s section was big, bright and had a big offering of books and movies. There’s also a great play area!
    • Fun Fact from the passport book: We have a large terra cotta fish tank!
  • Elwood
    • This library is small, cute, friendly and the highlight for us was the chess board! My son played chess for the first time and won!
    • Fun fact from the passport book: Our building was a former Blockbuster Video.
  • Harborfields
    • Large children’s area, including a quiet cubby for movie watching. Right next door, you’ll also find a great playground!
    • Fun fact from the passport book: We opened to the public in a 10-by-50-foot trailer parked on a grass strip on January 10, 1971.
  • Commack
    • This library had a super modern feel. The children’s area was big, bright and had an awesome interactive gaming table.
    • Fun fact from the passport book: The Children’s Room has LED lighting in the ceiling which can change colors throughout the day by patron request!
  • Half Hollow Hills
    • Walking up to and into this library immediately gave us the feeling that we were in a new school! Next to the book section was a big playroom for smaller children!
    • Fun fact from the passport book: The Melville Branch was originally the Old Melville Schoolhouse.
  • Deer Park
    • Some libraries had more of an offering of specific books my kids were looking for than others. At Deer Park, there was a large selection of Easy Readers which was exciting for my 6 year old!
    • Fun fact from the passport book: We aren’t the only Deer Park Public LIbrary. There are three others in Texas, Cincinnati, and Toronto.
  • Sayville
    • Driving up to it my kids said “is this a hotel?!” This library is super convenient to the LIRR and has a big children’s section. If you’re driving, be aware that parking is located in the back.
    • Fun fact from the passport book: We have a little free pet pantry!
  • Central Islip
    • The children’s section was decked out in a space theme, complete with inflatable aliens.
    • Fun fact from the passport book: We have an art gallery!
  • Hauppauge
    • This library was all in on Barbie! There were Barbie and Ken photo frames set up and a Barbie themed door hanger craft.
    • Fun fact from the passport book: We have a summer outdoor event series called Fridays Out Front.
  • The Smithtown Library Nesconset Building
    • Crafts inside in the Children’s area and plenty to do outside with a playground, tennis courts and more!
    • Fun fact from the passport book: Between 1909 & 1912 the library’s collection was housed in a small building that still stands today on the Smithtown Historical Society’s property.

We are thankful for this summer tour because it got us to visit libraries we may never have otherwise. The libraries all had friendly staffs, great collections of books (and yes we got at least one book from each) and so much to offer their communities.

I Love The Love For Reading

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

If you follow my @justmymomsense Instagram, then you have definitely seen some our library hauls.

Each of my kids got their first library card at around 6 months old. Our library is so awesome. They offer classes from the baby stage all the way up to classes for adults. Their children’s book section is extensive and it also fills the void that Blockbuster left by giving us the ability to take out DVDs and video games.

I love the love for reading that my kids have. They’re excited to pick out books and look forward to having new ones in the mix.

We’ve spent time making reading forts.

We’ve taken things outdoors in order to read on the trampoline.

Reading before bed is always fun since my husband is good at providing some of the character voices.

Along with gym, music and art, my kids also go to their school libraries once a week. They learn about new authors and are able to bring a book home from that library as well.

I am grateful for the library and schools we have. I know what a privilege it is for my children to be able to have access to so many wonderful authors, stories and opportunities.

If have a library card, you may be able to access apps in order to take out books virtually and have them sent to your Kindle or iPad. Apps like Libby are also available to read books on different devices. (This isn’t an ad, just something we’ve used)

Growing up I liked book stores and I remember having favorite authors, but I wasn’t always able to get lost in stories. I remember setting up a reading nook in my room to help give me that nudge I was needing, which probably only worked for a short amount of time. I think it’s awesome that my 8 year old loves reading new books, writing fan fiction and draws his own illustrations. My 6 year old is in Kindergarten and has come so far with reading in the last few months, it’s been amazing to watch her growth.

And now for my unsolicited advice: if you have access to a library, please get yourself and your child a library card and read with them. One of the coolest things you’ll experience is sharing a story together. That may look like you reading to them, them reading to you or just looking through pictures. However it’s done, enjoy those moments!

I’ve included some of our favorite children’s book authors over on my “These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things” page which you can check out by clicking here.