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Rochester Hills Public Library, a Family Place Library™- Building Foundations for Early Learning

  • 6 days ago
  • 2 min read
Family Place Libraries logo, a stylized tree with a heart in the center branches surrounding a silhouette of an adult and child.

The Rochester Hills Public Library (RHPL) has been a part of the Family Place Libraries™ national network for over 10 years! As a Family Place Library™, RHPL provides a welcoming community environment with resources to help families nurture their children's development and early learning during the critical first years of life. To help ensure all children enter school ready and able to learn, our library offers:


  • A specially designed space in the children's area for families with young children to relax, play, share books, and meet other families.

  • Parent-Child Workshops- a five-week series of fun, play-based activities for toddlers and their parents and caregivers. Rich with toys, books, and art activities; the Workshops provide an opportunity for families to spend time together, make friends, and talk one-on-one with specialists on various aspects of child development and early literacy.

  • Collections of books, toys, music, and multimedia materials for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, parents, and caregivers.

  • Librarians specially trained in child development and family support.


A photo of two male caregivers interacting with two toddlers who are playing with musical instruments.

As a Family Place Library, RHPL partners with local family-serving agencies and professionals to help parents of young children build foundations for early learning. Research has proven that the ways adults respond to and interact with children from birth-to-five years have dramatic effects on the brain, stimulating a child's social, emotional, and intellectual development. Parents and caregivers are their children’s first teachers and RHPL is here to help in that role.


A woman shakes the hand of a preschooler while her female caregiver smiles down at her and holds her other hand.


The Family Place Libraries™ model is now in over 500 libraries in 32 states serving thousands

of young children and their parents/caregivers. RHPL is proud to be among them. In our library, this expanded public library role was made possible with support from the  Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). 


Today’s blog post was written by Carolyn Sherrill, Youth Services Librarian at RHPL.

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