Celebrate Take Your Child to the Library Day with free books and activities for families | News, Sports, Jobs - Williamsport Sun-Gazette

The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., is celebrating the 11th anniversary of Take Your Child to the Library Day with special activities on Saturday, Feb. 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Take Your Child to the Library Day is an international initiative that encourages families everywhere to take their children to their local library. Launched in 2011 in Connecticut, the event raises community awareness about the importance of the library in the life of a child, and promotes library services and programs for children and families. Join the celebration!

Activities include a play area in the first-floor children’s, a family scavenger hunt, new games for the Creativity Zone, a new Lego wall in the tween/teen area, and fun book giveaways to build home libraries. Come spin our fun prize wheel for a chance to win a squishee fidget, light-up bracelet, bookmark and other surprises. Every child who comes to the library will receive a free book, while supplies last.

Thanks to the Friends of the James V. Brown Library, children who stop by the Friends Favorites Bookstore on the third floor of the Welch Wing that day will also receive a free book.

The event was developed to spotlight libraries as vital community resources that enrich, educate and entertain — and to encourage families everywhere to take their children to their local libraries.

“Since its inception, Take Your Child to the Library Day activities have been made available to more than 39 million individuals and families across the U.S. and in countries around the globe,” said Jennifer Keohane, Connecticut Library Consortium’s Executive Director. “Taking children to the library helps them develop a love of reading and learning, but the benefits don’t end there. Choosing and checking out their own materials helps children learn independence, sharing, and responsibility. Library books and technology open up access to the world and fuel children’s curiosity and passions. And library programs provide myriad opportunities for learning, discovering, making friends, and having fun! If you want your children to become thoughtful, engaged citizens, start by bringing them to the library — on Take Your Child to the Library Day or any day.”

The library supports the PA Forward statewide initiative, which believes that when Pennsylvania residents improve their command of five types of literacy — basic, information, civic and social, health and financial — they can achieve greater success as students, parents, employees, consumers, as citizens. Libraries are community centers of information, technology and learning that will fuel educational and economic opportunity for all of our citizens.

The James V. Brown Library is open for browsing and holds pick up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. To place a hold, visit www.jvbrown.edu or call 570-326-0536 during the library’s operating hours. The library also is open for public computer usage and for services such as printing, faxing, copying and scanning. Walk-in passport services are available. The James V. Brown Library is the 2021 PA Library of the Year.

The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, Pa., is the place to go to learn, connect and grow. Founded in June 1907, the library champions the love of reading, opens new doors to lifelong learning, provides a haven to those who seek and ensures the preservation of public library services for future generations. The library has more than 225,000 visitors in a year and circulates a half-million items annually. A member of the Lycoming County Library System, the James V. Brown Library participates in PA Forward, a statewide initiative to promote literacies in our communities to power a better future for everyone.

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