As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” And indeed, it seems to have been a lightning-quick blink of five years since the Children’s Library reopened in October 2013, following the third floor’s five-month closure to renovate the space. The biggest change was the expansion into the light well, creating our beloved Picture Book Room. On its walls, you’ll find the original artwork featuring Babar that Laurent de Brunhoff created and presented to the Children’s Library, recently adapted to a bookmark, along with other pieces by illustrators who have also spoken at the Library.

Other physical changes to the Children’s Library include new furniture throughout the space, such as the built-in bench that was added to the Fiction nook. Also as part of the renovation, we established a computer desk just for kids, ages 3-18.

The extra space has allowed our collection to grow over the past five years. Of particular note is the increase in size of our graphic novel collection. We’ve even had a few cartoonists teach our Young Writers’ Workshops with resounding success. Other programming we’ve added includes an expansion to our early elementary school age series with the STEAMship Society and also Tween Scene for children age nine and older.

In 2015, the Children’s Library expanded its reach beyond the third floor. Thanks to a generous donation from beloved author Richard Peck, we expanded our Young Adult holdings into the High School level, with a new section housed on Stack 9. This growing collection recently relocated to a larger and more prominent spot just inside the door. The newest YA-HS additions can be found in the lobby.

A virtual enhancement is our collection of e-books which you can find in the Cloud Library. We have a variety of popular titles for children, but in particular, we have focused this collection towards YA books, including stellar non-fiction and Alex Award winners.

Some things have not changed, and that is for the best! We continue to host the Young Writers Awards, now entering its 17th year, that encourages the next generation of authors to surprise and delight us with their impressive early work. This yearly contest is open to members and also students from schools participating in Project Cicero, an annual Library book drive.

We invite you to visit the Children’s Library and bask in the significant improvements from the vast amount of space to the volume of books and our variety of events. On the horizon, we are delighted to welcome three new visitors to the library in November: Peter Sís, Drag Queen Story Hour, and Karina Yan Glaser. You can stay up-to-date with these events and future ones by signing up for one (or more) of our newsletters. Here’s to five years that have flown by with lots of fun. We're looking forward to many more!

All photographs by author, except where noted in captions.