New Mom Excited About Library!

I’m having a baby!  My due date is in May 2013, and I’m eager about my little guy’s arrival and creating a happy, exciting environment for him.  Part of what I envision for our adventures together is fully utilizing the resources of our local public library system here in Lethbridge.  What am I looking forward to as a library user?

• Visits to LPL for baby programs!  We’ll start in September with “Babes in the Library,” “Rhyme Time,” and “small & TALL” at LPL’s main branch downtown once they resume after summer break.  I have friends with babies on the west side, so I might arrange play dates with them at the Crossings branch for their programs!
  
  
• Toy Library!  What a great way to try new toys and save money. We don’t have a lot of space to store toys in our house, so I love the idea of bringing in a few items temporarily...and having my floor clean...temporarily!
• DVDs!  I love movie nights at home, and as a new [tired!] mom, I think I’ll enjoy them all the more.  If baby fusses, no leaving the theatre or missing the story.
• Zinio!  I’ve already downloaded a couple parenting magazines on my iPad (Parenting Early Years and Today’s Parent).  Consumer Reports magazine has been helpful in providing reviews of baby products, too.  Now my husband & I are checking reviews on used cars that will safely and economically accommodate a growing family!  If we couldn’t access these magazines via Zinio, we’d probably still sign out the print versions at the library, but being able to download them at home sure is convenient!  (Hopefully Zinio will be more widely available system-wide later this year—it’s being looked into!)
• TumbleBooks!  This resource features online books and games for kids…my favorite book right now is 50 Below Zero by Robert Munsch. (It sounds like it’s read by Munsch himself!).  Click on the picture below to visit TumbleBooks online.

• Bookmobile!  The bookmobile comes to our neighborhood once a week, and what a great excuse to go for a walk with baby.  We live too far away from the library to walk there, so to have the library come to us is an offer we can’t refuse!  (I believe new moms in any community will REALLY appreciate any effort a library makes to bring library services to them…)
• Books for Babies!  All new parents get a free book bag kit from Alberta Health Services as a result of this program made possible by Chinook Arch and its member libraries, AHS, participating community literacy organizations in the region, and the Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission.  The idea – to get parents reading to their babies.  The benefits are life-long!
• Books! And last—but never least—there are the beloved books available to all of us via our libraries.  I’ve already checked out a number of print books and ebooks to help me prep for parenthood.  Here’s a list of some I’ve really enjoyed (click on the pictures to view the books in BiblioCommons):

             

Our libraries have lots to offer moms and dads and their children.  I'm lucky to know about all that's available to me through Chinook Arch because I've worked with libraries in the area for 5 years, but we should ENSURE that parents in our communities know all that we have to offer them at their local library.  Your best advocates are users like me!  Get us bragging about you and bringing new converts to the library.