Sherri Gruwell with Parents as Teachers was the guest reader at the preschool story hour last week. Gruwell shared stories with the children and shared information about the Parents as Teachers program with the adults.
By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette
Sherri Gruwell with the Parents as Teachers program was the guest reader at the weekly preschool story hour. Gruwell read stories to the children and shared information with parents about available resources through the Parents as Teachers program.
Gruwell explained that the program supports parents from the prenatal stage through 5 years old. The intent of the program is to support parents by helping them to access necessary resources as well as helping them become more involved in their child’s early education and connect with their children through play and reading time.
Parents as Teachers is proven to increase parent knowledge of early childhood development, improve early detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevent child neglect and abuse, and increase children’s school readiness and success. Parents as Teachers is located in the Guthrie County Public Health Office, and Gruwell can be reached at 641-757-0364.
Raising children takes a village, and the MJB Library works hard to be an active part of that village. In addition to the weekly preschool story hour each Friday at 10 a.m., the MJB Library does a monthly reading outreach to the Guthrie Center preschool classes.
The library offers many youth activities and programs, including Creation Corner, which will be on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. Our annual Li-BOO-ary Bash is Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5-6:30 p.m.; family-friendly decorations and a sweet treat for trick-or-treaters will be the highlight.
MJB Library promotes the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. If you have a child from birth to age 5 who isn’t signed up, the library can give you the QR code to register your child to receive a children’s book, mailed to your child each month.
Through the library, preschool children younger than 5 can participate in 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. This free program promotes reading readiness by encouraging parents to read 1000 books with their child before they begin kindergarten. Sign-up can be done at the library or online on the MJB Library website.
Adults with Guthrie Center addresses can use the Iowa Adventure Pass to each venue once every 365 days. With the Iowa Adventure Pass, two adults and two children are admitted at no charge to the Blank Park Zoo or the Science Center of Iowa. The Museum of Danish America and the Des Moines Performing Arts also offer free ticket deals for patrons. Check the MJB Library website for specifics regarding the use of the Iowa Adventure Passes and to reserve them.
Homeschool families are reminded that the library also has a homeschool materials exchange available at no cost. Families are encouraged to come in and take home school resources that they need, and when they finish with books and materials that they would like to donate to the program, the library is happy to share them.
Remember that while Libby is a fantastic resource for adult and young adult readers, a vast number of electronic and audio picture books are available through the app. Kanopy, the streaming service that is free for MJB Library patrons with a Guthrie Center address, has a huge number of educational programs available for children.
Speaking of Libby, users have lately been required to verify their card and enter a PIN. On Libby, patrons are required to enter a seven-digit card number, so if the MJB card number is shorter, use the appropriate number of leading zeros. For example, if the card number is 123, enter 0000123. The PIN will be the telephone number that the library has on file; enter all 10 digits with no spaces or hyphens.
AI controls are coming to Libby in the next few weeks. In Libby, users can set their preferences for discovering titles with AI contributions via a new Content Controls menu. This menu will present AI contribution choices in four different categories: text, audio, graphics, and translation. Each category has several options, so that people can find the right balance for them. AI Content Controls apply to all titles in Libby, whether you’re browsing or searching. For example, if a user disallows AI audio in Libby, all AI narrators will be filtered out of search results and library lists.
Remember that Friends of the Library still has T-shirts available for purchase for $30. Friends of the Guthrie Center Library meet the first Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m.
Sign-up forms to bring a Christmas tree to the MJB Library Festival of Trees are now available on the MJB Library website. This year’s theme is Merry Christmas America 250.
Be sure to look at the book displays throughout the library. In addition to the new book displays, the library currently has a display about cozy novels, a display about banned books, and a display featuring books with sprayed edges. Don’t just look at the displays; check some books out to read.
The library is still looking for collections or hobbies to display each month in the library display case. If you have a collection or have created art/craft pieces that you’d be willing to display for a month at the library, please email or call the library.
The MJB Library staff wants to congratulate Edward for reading 1,000 books before kindergarten. He is wearing his new shirt that he earned by completing the program.
After story hour, Caden created this working gear assembly.
Rook proves that STEM is fun and challenging for all ages.