Library Storytime

 Recently I read an article telling about how popular story time at the library has become. Featured with this writing was a picture of a New York library and a line of moms, dads, and strollers circling the block outside. I can completely understand this article. For those of you living in a small town this may seem crazy. Coming from Enumclaw, I had the opportunity to take Ted to a few library story times. At most, there were about 10 children on any given day. The activities and songs were simple and the class ended with playtime and toys. In Moab, we went to story time with Miranda and her baby. There were once again simple songs, the leader read a couple books and the 6 children who attended made a craft to go with the stories that were read.

Moving on to Huntington Beach. Here there are 2 classifications of story time. There is the 2-3 year old option which you have 6 chances to catch each week and there is the 3-5 year old option which is offered 2-3 times each week. (You only go once a week because the show... I mean story time changes weekly). It really is a show and it really is amazing. There is singing, puppets, dancing, and of course, stories. Make sure you arrive early because you will be waiting in line. This year I have buckled down and started putting in a greater effort to get to the 9AM time. This is the first of the day and the easiest to get in. That is right. There is a chance you may not get in to story time.

Today, after our class was over we stayed in the children's section of the library to play with the toys.
I watched as the 10AM class began to line up outside the door. A mom and grandma discussed the option of the mom waiting in line and the grandma hanging out with the child while she played with toys. At 10AM the mom came bustling over obviously flustered and stating the security guard would not let the grandma in because the room had reached maximum capacity (Maximum Occupancy 140). The grandma and mom rushed off to see about getting in.

If you can't fit into the room there is a small nook outside the theater that broadcasts the story time on a TV. Today, this too was filled to capacity. I even watched parents as they tried to sneak into the "Staff Only" entrance to the story time theater.

I love our story time, because it is so high quality and free! But there is a trade off. You need to be on your game to get in :) My strategy is to not care what other people think. We used to go to the 11 AM story time which was CROWDED! (We always got in though) While some parents would see a full room and find a spot on the outskirts, I would squeeze in next to people who left openings. Hi friend! I wanted to make sure Ted could see everything that was going on. Now that we are going to the earlier time I end up getting to the library before it even opens and waiting outside (thank goodness for beautiful sunny CA weather).

The boys and I walk a total of 1 hour for this experience. It is fun and totally worth it but man o man what a parent won't do for their toddler :)

These are all pictures of the play area in the children's section of the library.