Why Should You Bring Your Family To The Library?
Many parents understand the importance of reading to young children, and maybe your family already visits the library – that is great news! There are many benefits to coming to the library, and bringing home that stack of exciting new books to read together is just one of them.
Here are three examples of how making a habit of coming to the Richmond Public Library benefits the whole family:
Learning to share
For many children, learning about how a library works is one of their first lessons on sharing with others. When you explain to children that library books are not ours to keep, they are just borrowed and actually belong to everyone in the community, it is a great opportunity to show how to take care of things so that they last. Children will feel a great sense of pride that comes from responsibly using the library – especially if they are entrusted to have a library card in their own name. It is easy to get your child a library card, and it is free! All you need is a piece of photo ID, proof of your current address, and something with your child’s name on it (i.e. Care Card, passport). Come into any branch to get a library card today!
Community building
The library offers a variety of programs that bring families with young children together: babytimes, family storytimes, puppet shows, sing-a-longs, book clubs, parent information sessions – just to name a few. At any program, the opportunities to meet new people and connect with schoolmates, neighbours and friends are endless. In addition, these programs are usually drop-in, and all of them are completely FREE! Check out our Events Calendar (http://rpl.yourlibrary.ca/events_calendar) for a full list of free programs at every branch of the library.
Multiculturalism
Speaking, reading, and singing to babies in your native language is important for their language development, so make sure to check out the library’s collection of books in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, Punjabi, French, and more. The library offers as much material as we can in multiple languages to represent the diversity of Richmond. Have a suggestion for a book or DVD in your native language? A librarian would be happy to create a purchase request for you.
Visit the Richmond Public Library and open up a world of possibilities for you and your family. For branch locations and hours, check out our website http://rpl.yourlibrary.ca/account/hours_locations and be sure to come and say hello! We are looking forward to meeting you!