Accompanied by their teacher, nursery children come to the library for a group language experience outside their classroom. They learn to sit on the story steps and listen to a story. After the story, they participate in a brief discussion. Children then select a book from those displayed and look at it alone, with a friend, or hear it read aloud by a teacher. The focus is on enjoying books, learning appropriate library behavior, sharing materials with others, handling books properly and on the communication skills of hearing a story and verbalizing a response to it in a group setting.
K-1 students come to the library in small groups once a week. They learn how to borrow, care for and return library books using their own library cards which are kept at the charge-out desk. Children hear a variety of stories, including myths, poetry and fairy tales. After each story, a brief discussion is held. Those children who are beginning to read are asked to take out one book for an adult to read to them and one book to try on their own. The books for beginning independent reading are kept in a special location. Children begin to learn where various kinds of books are kept and to locate those books which satisfy the interests they are developing.
Grades 2-3 students come to the library in small groups. They listen to a wide variety of stories and participate in a discussion, sharpening critical thinking and expressive language skills. They learn that libraries are organized into fiction and non-fiction areas and begin to understand the Dewey Decimal and our computerized borrowing system. They learn where books on a topic of personal interest are shelved. Children borrow and return books independently. They look to the library not only for recreational reading, but also as a source of knowledge about specific subjects.