Family Corner Opens at Goleta Valley Library

The Goleta Library last week launched its new Infant and Toddler Town area, a corner within the library reserved solely for little ones and their parents. Thanks to a $15,000 grant from the California State Library which was matched $6,001 by the Friends of the Goleta Valley Library the Goleta Library was able to pay for both that space and its upcoming “Play with Me, Learn with Me” workshops.

The goal of the workshops (which are part of a nationwide program and are supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services), said branch manager Allison Gray, is to help parents learn how to best prepare their young children for school. “This will help them get their kids ready for success,” she said.

The five-week-long workshops, the first series of which starts on Friday, May 11 at 5 p.m., will feature not only time for reading and playing but also time for parents to ask local experts such as child psychologists and speech pathologists, said Gray about topics that may concern them.

“We’re really excited,” said library director Irene Macias, who attended the opening of Infant and Toddler Town. “This is the perfect community to do it in.”

The county’s 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf agreed, lauding the libraries. “They serve so many needs in our community,” she said. And this new program, she added while watching the little kids play in the new space, is important. “This is the future generation.”