When I first proposed adding a baby storytime to the library’s programming schedule, a few were skeptical. “A storytime for babies? But they can’t even pay attention. They won’t understand the books you’re reading!”

While some of those theories may be partially true, there are definitely many benefits for babies and caregivers who attend storytime. So I was delighted when Baby Bookworms started at the Columbus Library in January 2015 thanks to a grant from the Polk County Community Foundation.

How do babies benefit, you ask? Storytime helps babies increase their vocabulary, develop language skills, and associate words with images. It also provides print motivation – if children find fun and excitement in stories, they will want to read books.

As they become older, they learn school readiness skills as well. Caregivers who bring their young children to the library learn skills to support their children’s learning and have an opportunity to engage with other parents. Storytime is a fun, free family activity that can be a social event for both the adult and the child as well.

Babies learn words best through repetition, rhyming, and movement. At Baby Bookworms, we incorporate these techniques to create a fun learning environment. We have a small selection of books we rotate through; we sing songs that involve actions, scarves, or maracas; and we repeat the same bouncing rhymes week after week.

The books we read are selected to be specifically of interest to very young children. They are short (to match their attention spans) and provide a combination of bright colors, repeating words and phrases, animal sounds, or interactive features such as lifting flaps.

Does this mean that all the babies at storytime are totally focused and paying attention? No! And that’s OK. It’s still important to expose them to books and words, and there’s the social aspect of the program as well.

After 15-20 minutes of books, songs, and rhymes, we bring out special sensory toys for the babies to play with. Then they get a chance to interact with each other and the caregivers have time to socialize as well.

Baby Bookworms is in the children’s area of the Main Library in Columbus on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.

Jen Pace Dickenson is the Youth Services Librarian at Polk County Public Library. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit www.polklibrary.org or call (828) 894-8721.