Reading with my son is one of our favorite activities. We have tons of books – touch & feel, the classics, picture books, board books, pop-up, some that make sound – so we get a well rounded experience with reading. I enjoy playing actor (getting theatrical by changing my voice or tone) and trying to make some of the books come to life. Let’s be honest, my son must get bored of hearing me read so many books. So, aside from hearing books from his mom and grandparents, we like to attend story time.
We used to go very often to the 42nd street Children’s Center at the New York Public Library for storytime. The space was amazing – bright, comfy bean bag chairs, and filled with lots of new books. Then, we latched onto weekly storytime at our local Barnes & Noble. The UES 86th street location offers FREE storytime & an art activity every Sunday @ 11am. A great bonding experience for us on those rainy weekend mornings.
On the UES, our favorite library to visit is the Webster Branch at 1465 York Avenue. I wouldn’t say this library has the best selection of books, but it is the only local library that offers a ramp to the front door…unlike the steep steps in the brownstones of 79th & 96th street. They have a weekly story time on Wednesday mornings in their awesome space on the third floor. We only went once because Wednesday is the day we usually meet up with our friends at the NYC Dads Group. Consequently, looks like it’s a good thing that we meet the fellas, and don’t need our Wednesday fix of storytime at the NY Public Library.
You have heard the horror stories about supply and demand of the top preschools and you have most likely tried to get concert/sports tickets the morning they go on sale – it’s mayhem with jammed phone lines, long lines at the box office, and some resorting to distributing bracelets. This week, library storytime (@ our local Webster Branch) was the focus of the latest mob scene, with stories of handing out color coded tickets and lots of parents being turned away. The NY Post published Tot Ticket At Library by Jeremy Olshan & Jennifer Fermino describing the situation with some parents and caregivers resorting to making photocopies of the tickets to try and gain admission to storytime.
Let’s dissect this for a moment. First, it is a positive thing that so many parents, nannies, and caregivers want to take their children to storytime. Second, parents always want an edge, so I understand the counterfeiting of the tickets using a photocopy machine. Third, it was obviously a slow day in the news sector – is this really newsworthy? Finally, to the parent who said they have to stake out a spot on line 90 minutes prior to storytime to ensure admission – how does your toddler have the stamina & patience to wait (I could use a lesson on that one)?
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