With mom and dad by her side, two-year-old Rae sings, claps her hands and stamps her feet during Friday storytimes at CLP – Allegheny. She is too young to understand that the interactive stories, songs and rhymes she loves to recite in the car and just before bedtime are actually helping her build vocabulary, expand her imagination and teach important life skills. To Rae, it’s just fun.

One of the most rewarding (and possibly one of the most frightening) hats parents wear is being their child’s first teacher. Many first-time parents are starting with a blank slate and little preparation. While the Library’s fast-paced storytimes introduce children and their caregivers to important early learning skills – talking, singing, reading, writing and play – parents Wendy and C.J. credit the program for connecting them to other parents in the neighborhood. For them, Fridays at the Library have become more than tradition, it has become and invaluable resource for the family.

Gifts to the Library help provide services, resources and connections that support parents and caregivers in their pre-K child’s literacy and learning development. You are helping to improve outcomes for our city’s youngest learners.