Beyond books: One mom, one toddler, one afternoon at the new library

"I had a good day, Mom," my 2-year-old informed me as I buckled her car seat before leaving the Cape Girardeau Public Library on Tuesday. Ava picked out her own book, "Where Is Baby's Valentine?" by Karen Katz, and happily jabbered to me about where the valentine was and wasn't during our ride home.

Ava and I spent the entire afternoon in the youth section of the new library. She played with a train table and crawl-through gym, helped put on a puppet show and played computer games (with a little help from Mom, of course). I explored the book selection and enjoyed watching her talk and play with other children.

From the moment we stepped in the door her interest was captured by the children's area.

"Ooh, ooh, ah, ah," she exclaimed, pointing to the tree-lined entrance to the children's area, just past the front desk. At home I hold her up and let her swing from a low tree branch in our yard while she pretends to be a monkey.

She spotted the colorful round seats scattered throughout the section in front of a big-screen television, puppet theater and reading area, and decided to give one a push to roll it like a ball. I was relieved when she was easily distracted by the train table.

Janel Nelson and her daughter, Jabreia, left, use computer programs as Erin Easton sets up a program for her daughter, Ava, on Tuesday at the newly renovated Cape Girardeau Public Library. (Kit Doyle)

"Let's play choo-choo train!" she shrieked.

Normally anywhere in public aside from the park, I tend to get nervous when I perceive my child as being disruptively loud, and remind her quickly to use her inside voice. Lucky for me, she seemed to pick right up on the relaxed and quiet but playful atmosphere in the library. She delved into calmly running the small wooden train cars around the table and talking to a little boy about the color of the round seat he was sitting on.

Since the children's area is easily visible from the rows of bookshelves I wanted to explore, I could look around and check out the sections on parenting help and language learning books. The library has a wide selection that ranged from Dr. Spock's expertise to teacher resource manuals. My daughter soon climbed into the chair next to me at the computers to play Sesame Street.

The library's youth services director, Sharon Anderson, had pointed out to me earlier that the keyboard was color coded to help children differentiate the letter and number keys. The computers also feature more than 40 educational games.

The new library has a number of interesting amenities that gear children toward learning literacy and technology, while the decor and activities for children to do are fun and stir the imaginations of children of all ages, at least judging by the entertained 10 or so children and their parents in the library that afternoon. Most of the younger children were in the corner dedicated to play activities. Apart from the puppet theater and train table, there are sensory boards on the surrounding walls, rotating shelves with board books for toddlers and an easel with felt dolls and clothes. For older children, the side near to the entrance has Wii Sports games available for play, computers, a separate lounge for teens and an area with magazines and sofas.

I showed Ava where I found the library's kindergarten readiness kits -- bags of materials available for checkout containing activities, books, puzzles and information for parents. Although she is not quite at a learning-to-read age, the material in the fairy-themed bag we picked kept us busy as we identified colors and letters and counted fairies in a book.

After we put away the kit, I asked her to pick out a book and told her we could sit in the "special purple" rocking chairs. She eagerly grabbed one and we settled in.

Though my daughter and I have enjoyed reading together since before she could sit up on her own (well, at least I enjoyed it back then), I have never really tried to read to her anywhere but home, except to talk about a picture book at the doctor's office, or while coloring on a restaurant kid's menu.

I thought she would be on to the next thing in no time, because the library seemed to be an exciting and interesting place for her. But I found I could easily sit no farther than half a room away from all children playing and quietly enjoy a book with my child. I owe that partly to the parents and children there during our visit, who seemed aware they were still inside a library despite the playfulness. Quiet spots in the colorful area weren't hard to come by.

Anderson said she hadn't received any complaints about noise coming from the youth section from patrons in the other sections of the library. The library installed special acoustic tiles on the ceiling to help reduce noise.

Anderson said she was proud of the children's area, and said this is the first time the library has had the facilities it needed to enhance the services for youth. The library offers a varied list of new programs, activities and special events this summer that will build on already existing programs for different age groups.

New for all ages is Family Fun Night, where families can gather on Friday nights to play board games at 6 p.m. June 19 and July 17. For 3 to 8-year-olds, children can create art inspired by picture books from Eric Carle, Crockett Johnson, David McKee and Donald Crews. Anderson said the new storybook art program is being held in the evenings to give working parents an opportunity to do an activity with their child. Sessions are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on June 24, July 8 and July 22. On July 30, children can show off their art at the library's new Gallery Art Show. A cartooning workshop is also being held for children ages 9-12 on July 17 at 11 a.m.

Other continuing programs at the library include "Toddler Time," and "Early Explorers," classes with story time, finger plays, songs and activities for children ages 18 to 35 months, the similar "Storytime" and "Hands On" classes for children ages 3 to 5, and "Lunch Bag Bunch" and "Kids Can I" for children ages 6 to 8. "Kids Can II" offers activities for children ages 9 to 12. A full schedule of days and times is available at http://www. capelibrary.org.

Anderson said the library's "Drop-In Saturdays" featuring puppet fun and self-portrait art activities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. would also continue through the summer and were back by popular demand.