Friends of the Rochester Public Library Change Lives
"Books for Babies"
Reetu Gurung was born in January at Methodist Hospital. During their stay in the hospital, her mother, Purna Gurung, was very grateful to receive a special gift from the Friends of the Library. “Being a new mother, I received several packages of information from the hospital staff about child care, including booklets on immunizations, baby hygiene and health care,” recalled Purna. Included in the material was a package from the Friends of the Rochester Public Library, a group of community members who support the library with time and treasure. The package included Reetu’s first book entitled “Making Music” about musical instruments.
“It is a cute little thing, really small and green in color,” smiled Purna. “Reetu is mostly interested in eating it! She chews on it more than she reads it.” Brain specialists insist that even mouth oriented interactions with books by babies are important steps toward emergent literacy skills in children. “I have attended ‘Every Child Ready to Read’ training sessions by the Children’s librarians at the library, so I know how important it is to introduce babies to books and to read to them from birth. Kids should have 11,000 words in their vocabulary when they enter kindergarten, and if they don’t they will never catch up,” added Purna.
Purna believes that Books for Babies are perfect gifts for new parents. “I loved to read when I was a little girl. I loved Nancy Drew, Secret Seven and the Famous Five. Books transported me to other worlds. I still love to read and I want to instill that love of reading in my daughter.” In addition to the book, the Friends package included lists of books to read to children and information about the Rochester Public Library’s Children’s services. The Friends of the Rochester Public Library give Books for Babies packages to all babies born in Olmsted County. They recently welcomed a new partnership with the United Way’s Imagination Library, which gives babies a new book every month from birth to five years old. The Friends include an Imagination Library brochure and enrollment form in all of their Books for Babies packages.
