The children’s staff here at Bay County Library System love to help families raise readers! To that end, we have recently added a collection called “Raise a Reader Backpacks”. These backpacks help children develop early literacy skills through talking, reading, singing, writing, and playing.
There are currently 12 kits, designed for children between the ages of 3-5 years old. Each backpack contains at least one book and DVD, as well as engaging activities like flannel board stories, musical instruments, puppets, games, and learning toys.
The themes are:
- Building
- Community Helpers
- Dinosaurs
- Farm
- Fish
- Food
- Insects
- Mice
- Monkeys
- Music
- Seasons
- Transportation
Backpacks are located at Wirt Library in the children’s department but patrons may place a hold through our online catalog to have the backpacks delivered to the BCLS location of their choice. The backpacks check out for 3 weeks, with no renewals. There is a limit of one backpack checked out at a time for each library card.
To search for the backpacks in our catalog, use a keyword search for “backpack kits.” From the search results page, click “place hold” on the backpacks you are interested in checking out. Use your library card and PIN to complete the request.