Houston - Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library and WIC Center received an official designation as a Family Place Library by the Texas State Library and Archives Commissionon Tuesday, February 13, 2018. It is the first Houston Public Library to receive this honor.
Houston Public Library is proud to have Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library and WIC Center be one of 500 libraries in 31 states to receive this prestigious designation.
The Library is now part of a network of nationwide libraries whose focus is on early literacy, parent education and engagement, family support and community connectivity, with the goal of ensuring children enter school ready and able to learn.
Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library has a family friendly design that includes a large youth collection, a children’s nook, an early learning Kindle Fires. There are training and meeting spaces, including a conference room and large meeting room which are constant programming spaces. Both Houston Public Library and WIC provide targeted family programming that promotes family engagement and learning for all ages, from baby lapsit to toddler and preschool storytime, to after school activities for elementary school students, in addition to nutrition classes for pregnant women and workshops and classes for new parents.
Celebrating the recognition were Martha Castex-Tatum, Constituent Services Director Hiram Clarke & Fort Bend Houston representing City of Houston, Council Member, Larry Green. Two 1st grade classes from local elementary schools – Blue Ridge Elementary and Briargate Elementary, representatives from the local YMCA, from the Pinnacle Senior Center, representatives from the NAACP, among others. Two families who recently completed the 5-week family literacy program at the Library will provide testimonials.
The Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library & WIC Center is located at 7007 West Fuqua, 77489, 832-393-2370.
About a Family Place Library:
A Family Place Library has well trained staff who are knowledgeable about child development, family support, parental involvement and parent education. This team has actively contacted different organizations with the community to promote this program. The team wants to assure the library is a welcoming environment for returning customers and new customers.
In addition to a wide array of children’s books, there are parenting materials, multimedia materials and toys. Children learn through active play! The Family Place Playgroup is a five (5) week series of workshops for toddlers and parents/caregivers where families play together and learn together. A different community resource professional is present at each session for one-on-one question and answer periods with each family.
About the Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, four HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. With more than eight million visits per year in person and online, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7.
For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org, on Twitter @houstonlibrary, on Facebook – houstonlibrary or call 832-393-1313.
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