Robinson Township Library
Address:
Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-8pm
Friday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday Closed
Date Visited: Tuesday June 6, 2017
What we attended: A portion of storytime and open play
Thoughts:
We missed most of storytime because we didn't actually see that on their events page when we decided what time we would go; we were going for the open play. When we got there we decided to register for an Allegheny County Library Card. We live in Butler County and I have no idea when this policy started but guess what all of PA? You can get a library card in Allegheny County for free!! A very wonderful woman at the front desk gave me the paperwork to get a card and hurried us up to storytime because she didn't want us to miss it. Storytime and the open play are held in the community room which is upstairs. They will happily give you directions at the front desk, which I suggest if you've never been here before. Their library is within their larger municipal building.
The person running storytime read a book. (Sorry as I said we came halfway through, so I'm not sure what she was reading) On their website it says that their storytime on Tuesdays at 10:30 is for all ages. Although almost all of the children there were likely under 5. Then the children were asked to move to kid's sized tables to color a coloring page of a house.
After this, the open play began from 11am to noon. Open play is for children under five and there were definitely materials available for a variety of ages. One thing that was interesting was that since they use the community room, nothing was set up beforehand. As the children finished coloring, the librarian began to pull out item after item for open play. They had about 4 activity tables, three tunnels, a circus tent, a wooden kitchen set complete with food, a bubble machine, several blocks, some board books, balls of varying sizes, and many other small toys.
There were probably about 20 kids under five. What was great about this setup is that if you have kids of multiple ages they can attend together (if they're all under five). What was not so great about this set up was that you had very big kids and very little kids playing together. Z, who loves to play with anybody, loved this set up. However, it might be intimidating for a younger child. He was a bit scared of the tunnels at first but eventually crawled through them a few time. He also crawled in the tent. In addition, he liked the activity tables and blocks. He also kept trying to chase the big kids who were playing with the balls around (he is in LOVE with balls of all shapes and sizes as of late). This did cause some problems as most bigger kids wanted nothing to do with him or were unsure how to play gently with someone much smaller. Z pretty much ignored the bubble machine and kitchen items, but all the older kids seemed to love them.
Although the website says it is until noon, most of the kids began to leave by about 11:30 so if you had a more timid child it might be better to come a little bit later.
The Children's Section
After storytime we went to get our library card and a very kind woman explained all about using the card online, the checkout periods, the website, and their summer reading program which didn't begin until the next week. Next we visited the children's section. It's a bit on the small side about a 5 by 5 square, but it did have quite a few books. There was an entire bookshelf for board books.
In the middle there's a small table for reading or playing a large game of checkers. In addition, there are a few wooden puzzles.
We checked out That's not my Bunny one of the "That's not my..." series books by Fiona Watt. These books are great for young babies and toddlers because there's something to touch and feel on every page.
We also got Cityblock by Christopher Franceschelli which is a very thick book and part of a series of block books (Alphablock, Dinoblock, Countablock, etc.) These books have a peek-a-boo feel with children turning the page to find out how each phrase finishes. For example, "How will we get around? we'll hail a... (then the kids turn the page to reveal) taxi.
In addition we checked out Rawr! by Todd H. Doodler. This adorable book had a soft dinosaur attached to the front of the book and imagined why people were afraid of him and what a dino's day would be like. Just remember, Rawr means hello.
Other Activities:
http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=ROBINSON&curMode=LOGIN&curHelp=&curMonth=6&curYear=2017&SelectedDate=6/6/2017#6/6/2017
Above is a link to the other activities at Robinson. They include:
Monday: 11:00am-11:30am Family Storytime (all ages)
Tuesday: 10:30am-11:00am Storytime (all ages)
11:00am-12pm Open play
Wednesday: 11:00-11:30 Musical Storytime (All ages)
Thursday: 10:30am Preschool Storytime 2-5 year olds
11:00am- 12pm open play
Friday: 10:30am-11:00am Baby Lapsit Storytime
After our wonderful time at the library we also visited the Settler's Cabin Park (1225 Greer Rd. Robinson Twp, PA). This was a great follow up. They had several playgrounds of varying sizes, some were very busy and some were more secluded. There were also several picnic areas. One of the parks even, had a very welcoming dinosaur!
Overall, it was a great day, just remember until next time that Rawr also means goodbye!
1000 CHURCH HILL RD
PITTSBURGH PA 15205
412.787.3906
Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-8pm
Friday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday Closed
Date Visited: Tuesday June 6, 2017
What we attended: A portion of storytime and open play
Thoughts:
We missed most of storytime because we didn't actually see that on their events page when we decided what time we would go; we were going for the open play. When we got there we decided to register for an Allegheny County Library Card. We live in Butler County and I have no idea when this policy started but guess what all of PA? You can get a library card in Allegheny County for free!! A very wonderful woman at the front desk gave me the paperwork to get a card and hurried us up to storytime because she didn't want us to miss it. Storytime and the open play are held in the community room which is upstairs. They will happily give you directions at the front desk, which I suggest if you've never been here before. Their library is within their larger municipal building.
The person running storytime read a book. (Sorry as I said we came halfway through, so I'm not sure what she was reading) On their website it says that their storytime on Tuesdays at 10:30 is for all ages. Although almost all of the children there were likely under 5. Then the children were asked to move to kid's sized tables to color a coloring page of a house.
After this, the open play began from 11am to noon. Open play is for children under five and there were definitely materials available for a variety of ages. One thing that was interesting was that since they use the community room, nothing was set up beforehand. As the children finished coloring, the librarian began to pull out item after item for open play. They had about 4 activity tables, three tunnels, a circus tent, a wooden kitchen set complete with food, a bubble machine, several blocks, some board books, balls of varying sizes, and many other small toys.
 |
| Activity Table |
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1149754568394826539#editor/target=post;postID=6860255421721519851 |
| Tunnels of fun |
Although the website says it is until noon, most of the kids began to leave by about 11:30 so if you had a more timid child it might be better to come a little bit later.
The Children's Section
After storytime we went to get our library card and a very kind woman explained all about using the card online, the checkout periods, the website, and their summer reading program which didn't begin until the next week. Next we visited the children's section. It's a bit on the small side about a 5 by 5 square, but it did have quite a few books. There was an entire bookshelf for board books.
In the middle there's a small table for reading or playing a large game of checkers. In addition, there are a few wooden puzzles.
We checked out That's not my Bunny one of the "That's not my..." series books by Fiona Watt. These books are great for young babies and toddlers because there's something to touch and feel on every page.
We also got Cityblock by Christopher Franceschelli which is a very thick book and part of a series of block books (Alphablock, Dinoblock, Countablock, etc.) These books have a peek-a-boo feel with children turning the page to find out how each phrase finishes. For example, "How will we get around? we'll hail a... (then the kids turn the page to reveal) taxi.
In addition we checked out Rawr! by Todd H. Doodler. This adorable book had a soft dinosaur attached to the front of the book and imagined why people were afraid of him and what a dino's day would be like. Just remember, Rawr means hello.
Other Activities:
http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=ROBINSON&curMode=LOGIN&curHelp=&curMonth=6&curYear=2017&SelectedDate=6/6/2017#6/6/2017
Above is a link to the other activities at Robinson. They include:
Monday: 11:00am-11:30am Family Storytime (all ages)
Tuesday: 10:30am-11:00am Storytime (all ages)
11:00am-12pm Open play
Wednesday: 11:00-11:30 Musical Storytime (All ages)
Thursday: 10:30am Preschool Storytime 2-5 year olds
11:00am- 12pm open play
Friday: 10:30am-11:00am Baby Lapsit Storytime
After our wonderful time at the library we also visited the Settler's Cabin Park (1225 Greer Rd. Robinson Twp, PA). This was a great follow up. They had several playgrounds of varying sizes, some were very busy and some were more secluded. There were also several picnic areas. One of the parks even, had a very welcoming dinosaur!
Overall, it was a great day, just remember until next time that Rawr also means goodbye!
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