Spring Into Storytime is a national library initiative taking place in all counties in the coming weeks. Parents and young children are welcome to visit any of the participating branches of Clare County Library to celebrate the importance of families reading together and sharing stories.
deValera Library Ennis will host a storytime session every Thursday morning at 11.30am during April.
Ennistymon Library’s next storytimes will be on Saturday the 25th of March and Saturday the 22nd of April and will continue once a month as usual thereafter, beginning at 11am.
Storytime at Kilkee Library will take place on Friday the 31st of March at 10.45am with special invited guests from Giggles Montessori while monthly storytime sessions continue in Kilrush Library, the next one taking place on Saturday the 11th of April at 11am.
Miltown Malbay Library will welcome the children of Spraoi playgroup to a special storytime on Thursday the 6th of April at 12 noon.
Scariff Library will host a series of Spring Into Storytime sessions on Sat the 8th of April at 12 noon, Wed 12th at 3.30pm, Sat 22nd at 12 noon and Wed 26th of April at 3.30pm.
Neighbouring Killaloe Library will also join in the fun of sharing stories and will host special Baby Bear Rhyme Time sessions for very young children and their parents at 11am on the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th of April. This series of stories will run in tandem with a separate storytime programme that will take place regularly at the branch beginning on the 27th of March and continuing on a weekly basis every Monday at 3.30pm.
Shannon Library’s storytimes will take place each Tuesday in April at 4 pm and Sixmilebridge Library will welcome the children of Tomorrow’s Child Montessori to join in a fun storytime session at the branch at 11.30am on the 4th of April.
Through this initiative which is part of the National Right to Read strategy, parents of children from toddlers to five year olds will have a special opportunity to help engage in the experience of sharing stories and laying the foundations for their little ones to become readers. Children automatically and unknowingly reach the pre-reading stage when parents begin to read stories to them and they begin to listen. This can happen in infancy and the process of becoming a reader spans the first four years of your child’s life.
During the series of scheduled storytimes in the library, children along with their parents/carers will be invited to participate in some of the most suitable stories for young children expertly chosen by staff. Simple fun activities based on the featured stories may also be planned. There will be a special focus on demonstrating to parents how best to read and share stories with your child at this crucial time. Listening to stories at an early age has a major impact on your child’s development that is guaranteed to have a lasting effect.