18/11/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12E3tdtdswW/?mibextid=WC7FNe
A Virginia library is leading the way in making public spaces more accommodating for parents of small children with its innovative parent-child computer workstations! Located in the children's room at Henrico County Public Library's Fairfield branch, the 'Parent & Child Carrel' feature a computer workstation alongside an enclosed safe play area for babies and toddlers. The design was the brainchild of library staff who had observed that the standard computer lab model didn't work well for parents of young children. "We've seen parents and caregivers who would need to do adult work, like apply for a job or create a document for community college and so on, and if they had little infants and toddlers, we saw that it was very tricky to do," says Barbara Weedman, the Henrico County Public Library Director.
When the library was remodeled, the staff asked the architects if they could include ready-made furniture that addressed this need in the final design. When the architects couldn't find any good options, they asked a small children's furniture company, TMC, in Ann Arbor, Michigan to create a new kind of work carrel that could accommodate both parents and young children. Since the 'Parent & Child Carrels' were unveiled, they've been a tremendous hit with library patrons. As Weedman observed: "Librarians love to help, and we love to give access to people, and it can be tricky when you have little ones. And I think this has resonated with many people, because they can relate, juggling all these things in our busy lives."
For several inspiring children's books about librarians who made books more accessible to people in their communities, we recommend "Junia, The Book Mule of Troublesome Creek" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/junia-the-book-mule), "How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/miss-moore-thought-otherwise), and "Library On Wheels: Mary Lemist Titcomb and America's First Bookmobile" for ages 8 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/library-on-wheels)
For two fun kids' books about Mighty Girls who share their love of reading by building their own libraries, we recommend “The Library” for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-library) and “Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree” for ages 3 to 7 (https://www.amightygirl.com/red-knit-cap-girl-tree)
If you or your Mighty Girl want to create your own at-home library, we recommend the 'Personal Library Kit' at https://amzn.to/4d1eDfQ
For more Mighty Girl stories that pay tribute to the wonder of libraries and librarians, visit our blog post "Celebrating a Love of Reading: 35 Mighty Girl Stories about Books, Libraries, and Literacy" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11656