Next week, in celebration of Children’s Book Week, Fort Bend County Libraries will continue the annual tradition of welcoming newborns to the wonders of books by giving each baby born in the county a special baby book bag.
Each book bag contains a book, a bib, special certificate, list of suggested reading for children and information on parenting and library services.
The items are provided courtesy the Friends of the Fort Bend County Library.
Susan King, coordinator of youth services for Fort Bend County Libraries, said the bags represent the library system’s commitment to providing library services for county residents throughout their lives, beginning at birth.
“We hope to start every child born in hospitals in Fort Bend County on a successful road to life-long learning,” King said. “We distribute the baby book bags to babies born during that week at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital, and the Fort Bend Family Health Center, but all Fort Bend County babies who are born during Children’s Book Week are eligible to receive one, while supplies last.”
Families of Fort Bend babies born at other locations during Children’s Book Week should call Karen Bonura in the library system’s Youth Services department to receive their book bag. Bonura’s number is 281-344-3893.
King also stressed that not only is reading to a child a good opportunity for bonding between parent and child, it has also been shown to stimulate brain development. Even the youngest baby can benefit from the chance to develop eye focus by looking at the page of a book, while being comforted by the familiar voice of a parent. Additionally, reading aloud to children exposes them to the sounds and cadences of a human voice, resulting in an earlier and stronger grasp of vocabulary skills.
Parents can introduce infants to the library by bringing them to Mother Goose Time, a free weekly parent/infant activity program that takes place at many of the branches in the Fort Bend County library system.
As the children mature, the library system offers other programs designed to interest older children.
